Philippine Davis Cup team's confidence grows as it prepares to host Taipei in second round

JESON Patrombon and Francis Casey Alcantara rolled past their respective foes in the reverse singles on Sunday to help the Philippines complete a sweep of the first round Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Group II tie at the Valle Verde Country Club.

Patrombon survived a testy first set before cruising in the second against Abdulhamid Mubarak, 7-6 (5), 6-3, while Francis Casey Alcantara beat Ali Ghareeb, 6-2, 6-1, to formally claim a 5-0 sweep of the first round tie and keep the Philippines' quest to return to the Group I stage rolling.

“I’m excited to face stronger opposition in the next round. I strongly believe our team has got what it takes to move back to Group I next year,” said Cebuana Lhuillier-Philippines team manager Jean Henri Lhuillier, who is also the chairman of the Philippine Tennis Association.

Non-playing team captain Karl Santamaria sees this year as the team’s biggest chance to reach the Group I stage as the Philippines will once again host the second round tie slated from July 15 to 17 against Chinese Taipei.

“We have to play like a well-oiled machine by helping each other raise the level of play that we have right now,” Santamaria said.

The tie began with Patrombon securing a 6-0, 6-2, 6-1 win over Abdulrahman Alawadhi before Ruben Gonzales escaped with a gritty 7-6 (2), 6-2, 1-6, 6-7 (6), 5-5 win over Mohammad Ghareeb, who retired due to a pulled groin muscle.

Treat Huey and Alcantara beat Alawadhi and Mubarak, 6-1, 6-1, 6-2, in the doubles to take the best-of-three tie.

Source: spin.ph