The Philippine Davis Cup team is back in familiar territory.
Long-time Davis Cup campaigner and circuit veteran Ruben Gonzales overpowered a tired David Susanto in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 to send the Philippines back to the semifinals of the 2017 Davis Cup Asia-Oceania Group II tie, Sunday afternoon at the Philippine Columbian Association.
Gonzales started strong, proceeding to take the early double break with a mix of great serving and on-point backhand returns. With confidence, the veteran broke the visitor’s serve to clinch the match.
The Filipino continually pounced on Susanto in the following set, before the Indonesian had to pluck a service ace to keep himself at the frame at 3-5. Nonetheless, Gonzales was too solid on his service game to eventually close out the set.
The visiting squad got some lease for life after getting its first break of the Philippine serve to get to a 3-2 lead.
“I think he was getting a little tired so I tried to become more aggressive, trying to shorten up the points,” Gonzales admitted. “I was confident that if it goes longer, I will win either way.”
Gonzales tried to mix it up and shorten the rallies, which backfired in some stretches. However, being the veteran that he is, the 31-year-old found a way to win at the end, leaning on his powerful serve to finish off Susanto.
“No, I just tried to take it one point at a time; not to get ahead of yourself,” he shared if he felt any pressure going into the contest.
The Nationals will face either Thailand or Kuwait, which are playing as well as of this writing, in the next round. The other Southeast Asian side currently leads that tie at 2-1.
“Our team prepared thoroughly for this tie and it all paid off,” said team manager Jean Henri Lhuillier.
“The past few days have shown how determined we are to play our way back to the Davis Cup Asia-Ocenia Group 1 and with this victory, we’re right on track towards that goal.”
In the dead rubber, AJ Lim got the better of Indonesia’s Anthony Susanto in a battle of Cup debutantes. The 17-year-old Filipino took the win 7-5, 6-3.
