MANILA, Philippines – National team tennis coach Joseph Lizardo already foresaw what the Philippines needed to go through in its return to the Davis Cup after over four years of absence.
Lizardo, the US-based tennis legend who last captained the national team over two decades ago, got all his team projections right as the Philippines marked its Davis Cup comeback by going undefeated in Asia Oceania Group V action from November 20-23 at the Polytechnic University in Isa Town, Bahrain.
The Philippines, composed of AJ Lim, Eric Olivarez Jr., Francis Casey Alcantara, Ruben Gonzalez, and PJ Tierro, faced the Northern Marianas Islands in the playoff semifinals with the winner earning a promotion next year to Group IV.
Olivarez got the Philippines off to a winning start, downing Robert Schorr, 6-1, 6-0.
But things got interesting after Lim fell in three sets to Marianas’s top player Colin Sinclair, 5-7, 6-4, 6-1.
World doubles No. 199 Alcantara and former world No. 116 Gonzales would not let the opportunity for the Philippines to advance to Group IV slip away as they thwarted Sinclair and Schorr in the deciding doubles match, 7-5, 6-1.
The Philippine team came out of the gates smoking as they swept pool play without dropping a set.
In their first match against Macau, Olivarez blasted Si Long Shawn Ho, 6-0, 6-0. Lim posted a 6-1, 6-1 triumph over Ioi Tou Cheng, then Alcantara and Gonzales dominated Si and Ioi, 6-0, 6-2.
The second match pitted them against Mongolia. Olivarez scored another double bagel, 6-0, 6-0, against Sonompuntsag Enkhjargal. Lim followed with a 6-1, 6-3 scoreline over Undrakh Purevdorj, while 2023 SEA Games men’s doubles gold medalists Alcantara and Gonzales were too much for Tenuun Oyunbold and Zolbadar Urnukh, 6-1, 6-0.
Turkmenistan was a slightly tougher foe but the Philippines proved to still be the superior team.
Olivarez upended Yuriy Rogusskiy, 6-1, 6-1, while Lim got past Meylis Orazmuhamedow, 6-2, 6-3. Alcantara and Gonzales continued to be untouchable, defeating Hadzhymyrat Charyyev and Gurbanberdi Gurbanberdiyev, 6-3, 6-1.
The Philippines returned to Davis Cup action after the Philippine Tennis Association (PHILTA ) served a suspension issued by the International Tennis Federation (ITF), the sport’s world governing body, in December 2020 due to governance issues.
Early this year, the country got reinstated after complying with ITF requirements and electing a new set of officers. – Rappler.com
