The Philippines came tantalizingly close to reaching the finals of the men’s tennis team event for the first time in 14 years, while the women’s squad—without Alex Eala once again—was simply no match for Thailand’s world-class singles players at the 33rd Southeast Asian Games.
The men’s team drew first blood but ultimately fell in a heartbreaker to Indonesia, 1-2, in the semifinals on Friday at the National Tennis Development Centre in Nonthaburi.
Just like their quarterfinal clash against Singapore, the men’s semifinal was a fierce battle decided by the doubles match after the first two singles were split.
Coach Joseph Lizardo made a tactical decision to field Iggy Pantino in the opening singles instead of Jed Olivarez, who had secured the Philippines’ first win on Thursday in three sets against Singapore’s Shaheed Alam.
The gamble paid off as Pantino, a product of US NCAA Division I school Loyola Marymount University, stunned Indonesia’s Justin Barki, 6-2, 3-6, 6-4.
The second singles, however, belonged entirely to Indonesia.
Rifqi Fitriadi dominated the Philippines’ top player AJ Lim, 6-3, 6-0. Lim had also fallen in straight sets to Singapore’s Billy Chan on Thursday.
The deciding rubber match featured defending SEA Games men’s doubles gold medalists Francis Casey Alcantara and Ruben Gonzales against Indonesian doubles legend Christopher Rungkat and Fitriadi, who replaced Lucky Kurniawan at the last minute.
Alcantara, ranked 273rd in the world in doubles with a career-high of 162, and Gonzales, once ranked 116th globally, bounced back from a lackluster first set, which they dropped 1-6, by taking the second set in a tiebreak, 7-6 (3).
In the third set, however, the veteran Rungkat, once ranked 68th in the world and a main-draw grand slam participant, paired with Fitriadi, world no. 614, prevailed 6-4 to send Indonesia to the finals against Thailand.
In the women’s team event, 18-year-old junior standout Tennielle Madis was thoroughly outclassed by world no. 134 Lanlana Tararudee, 6-2, 6-0, while Shaira Rivera fell to former world no. 100 Mananchaya Sawangkaew, 6-2, 6-2.
Thailand completed the sweep in doubles as Patcharin Cheapchandej and Thasasporn Naklo defeated Madis and 17-year-old Steffi Aludo in two tightly contested sets, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (4).
