Triple Southeast Asian Games medallist and long-time Philippine Davis Cup campaigner Treat Huey, along with his partner and former World top 20 player Max Mirnyi of Belarus, clinched a semifinal berth at the ongoing 2016 Wimbledon Championships, late Tuesday evening (Manila time).
Huey and Mirnyi defeated the pair of Jonathan Marray of Great Britain and Adil Shamasdin of Canada in straight sets, 6-4, 7-6, 6-3 , to reach the final of this year’s third Grand Slam. The pair continue their successful year after reaching the quarterfinals of the Australian Open earlier in January and winning the Mexican Open the following month.
Huey and Mirnyi leaned on their service efficiency to clinch the first set, and they converted one of three break point opportunities in the frame. Marray and Shamasdin made some adjustments in the following set, but the Filipino-Belorussian duo would not be denied the win in both the next two frames.
The winning pair will take on the top-seeded French duo of Nicholas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert in the semifinal. Interestingly, Huey and Herbert played against each other in last year’s International Premier Tennis League season.
Huey becomes the first Filipino to reach the semifinal of a Grand Slam in this event in the senior level. His PH Davis Cup partner, Francis Casey Alcantara, notably went to the semifinal of the same event in the 2009 Australian Open, but as a junior.
