After a three-week layoff, the Philippines’ top doubles player Treat Huey resumes his campaign in the ATP Challenger Tour when he and fellow national team mainstay Ruben Gonzales see action in the Cleveland Open scheduled from March 15-21.
Huey, the former 18th ranked doubles player in the world and currently 119th in the world rankings, will be partnering once again with Sem Verbeek of the Netherlands in the $52,080 event which will be held at the hard courts of the Cleveland Racquet Club in Ohio, USA.
Huey and Verbeek are the top seeds in the competition and will face in the first round unseeded JC Aragone of the United States and Roberto Cid Subervi of the Dominican Republic.
The Filipino and Dutch duo made the semifinals of four straight ATP Challenger events in Turkey and Italy in the first two months of 2021 before Huey was sidelined briefly to recover from a minor injury.
Verbeek, the 126th doubles player in the world rankings, has been on a tear as of late after he and compatriot Jesper De Jong emerged champions last week of the Grand Palace Championship in St.Petersburg, Russia. The Dutch tandem also finished runner-up in another Challenger tournament in Russia held in the first week of March.
Gonzales, on the other hand, will be teaming up with Nicolas Barrientos of Colombia.
They will be up against a wildcard entry in Americans Matthew Chen and Jonathan Powell in the opening round. Gonzales is coming off a quarterfinal finish in the ITF M24 tournament in Naples, Florida where he paired up with another Philippine team stalwart, Francis Casey Alcantara.
