MANILA, Philippines – Top seed Jeson Patrombon recovered from an opening set down and outplayed 14th pick Luis Patino of Mexico, 5-7, 6-1, 6-2, Thursday to storm into the quarterfinals of the 22nd Mitsubishi-Lancer International Juniors Championships at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center.
Patrombon, the last Filipino standing in the Grade 1 event after 12 local wildcard bets crashed early in the first round, rose quickly in the second frame and took advantage of a cramping Mexican rival to nail the victory in a little over two hours.
The victory arranged the country’s top junior player a date with the winner between unseeded Nick Kyrgios of Australia and Roberto Cid of the United States, who were playing at presstime.
“Masyado akong nag-kumpiyansa sa first set kaya naunahan ako. Nag-focus ako na makabawi kaagad at hindi manggigil,” said the world No. 9 Patrombon, who is looking for his first singles title this year.
Patrombon saw his 4-1 opening-set lead vanish after Patino, ranked No. 54 in the world, took the next three games with his aggressive baseline attacks.
The Filipino briefly picked up his rhythm and won the ninth game, but the Mexican was even more persistent at the baseline as he took the first set.
Patrombon regained his composure by holding his serves in the second set as Patino started cramping. The Mexican called for a medical timeout prior to the decider, going back to court limping in every shot.
The Filipino pounced on the opportunity although he dropped the first and the seventh game due to unforced errors.
“Natutunan ko sa match na ito na kapag nakalamang na ako, kailangan ko nang kapitan, hindi na dapat ako mag-relax,” said Patrombon, who is also bidding to win the doubles crown.
Patrombon and Kiwi partner Jaden Grinter were playing the Canadian pair of Samuel Monnette and Filip Peliwo in the second round doubles. The fourth-seeded Filipino-Kiwi tandem earned an opening round bye.
Jurence Mendoza and Thai partner Warit Sornbutnark were battling third seed Vasile-Alexandru Ghilea and Teodor Marin of Romania at presstime after thumping Australian Luke Saville and Joey Swaysland, 6-4, 7-6 (9), late Wednesday.
Clarice Patrimonio and Katherine Ip of Hong Kong were also playing No. 7 Basak Eraydin of Turkey and Elizaveta Kulichkova of Russia at presstime after winning by default over Kazakhstan’s Anna Danilina and Ukraine’s Yuliya Lysa. (MB)
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