RP Tennis is Gold

I have a feeling I'm going to have a lot of competition for tennis court time after this year's South East Asian Games. I'm expecting a boom in recreational tennis after the Philippines's Fil-American players raked in two more gold medals after the men's team tennis gold.

Last night, Cecil Mamiit set the local crowd on fire after defeating defending champion Danai Udomchoke of Thailand in three hard-fought sets (6-3,5-7,6-4). The Thai roared into the final by besting Eric Taino, another Philippine player, in the semifinal 7-6(5),6-4. Udomchoke had earlier assessed the match-up against Mamiit to be a difficult one, as the Filipino held a 2-1 career win-loss record against him. His assessment proved to be correct.

From Tempo:
Udom Chokes!
[...]
With an overflow crowd and hundreds more in and out of the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center egging him on, Mamiit, a member of the gold medal-winning men's team, gave out the performance of his life, breaking the Thai's serve in the eighth game of the second set, reeling back after losing a 3-1 lead in the second and summoning all his energy and experience in the third and deciding set to claim the victory in two hours and 30 minutes.

"I think this is the best tennis I've ever played. All the tennis the whole week made me feel better and play better and better," Mamiit, the world No. 211, said. "All these crowd [sic] supporting the team, I'm glad we delivered and let them enjoy tennis."

"We (Udomchoke) were talking right after the match and we agreed that it was a perfect day for tennis. We really played out those points and never let up even when someone is down. It's a good thing that I was able to regain my energy in the third set, with the help of the crowd and my experience."

It was the first men's singles gold since Felix Barrientos registered the feat in 1991, also at the Rizal Tennis center, in a three-gold medal performance, and the 14th overall for the country since it started participating in the biennial event in 1977.

Udomchoke apologized to Thai fans for failing to win the gold medal, citing exhaustion and a groin injury which a trainer attended to in the third set.

In celebration, Mamiit danced with two Thais in national costume to the tune of the Pinoy Big Brother theme song. Later that night, he and Eric Taino also celebrated a semifinal victory in men's doubles over Indonesians Prima Simpatiaji and Wahyu Trijati. Taino and Mamiit played the final against twin brothers Sonchat and Sanchai Ratiwatana of Thailand today but lost 4-6,2-6. (I could probably insert a Siamese twin joke here, but I won't.)

Earlier today, Taino and partner Riza Zalameda posted a win over Indonesia's Suwandi Suwandi and Wynne Prakusya for the gold medal in mixed doubles. Displaying a mix of power, finesse, and good teamwork from the baseline and the net, the Filipinos rallied from a one-set-to-love deficit to push the match into a deciding third set. The final score was 2-6,6-3,6-4.

***

In related news, a bomb scare held up match play yesterday at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Stadium as an unattended travel bag was found around 1pm. Audience and players alike were evacuated as bomb squad members searched for explosives. When they opened the bag, though, all it contained were a tennis player's clothes and shoes.

And on that note, this concludes my coverage and commentary of Philippine tennis at the SEA Games. I'll be back to the regular tennis fare this upcoming week to talk about Davis Cup final results and other offseason topics.

posted by Noelle De Guzman @ 10:03 PM