RP, Kuwait split singles

No pain, no gain.

For Johnny Arcilla, this meant enduring cramps on his right leg before savoring a sweet victory over Mosaad Al-Jazaaf that saved the day for the Philippines in the opening singles of its Davis Cup Asia Oceania Zone playoff with Kuwait at the oven-hot PCA indoor court in Plaza Dilao, Paco yesterday.

Though limping and hurting in the fourth set, Arcilla mustered enough courage to complete a 7-6 (7-4), 5-7, 6-1, 6-4 win over Al-Jasaaf that gave the RP netters a headstart in the tie.

The victory proved crucial for the Philippines as Kuwait drew level later through Mohammad Al-Gahreeb’s 7-5, 6-3, 7-5 demolition of Adelo Abadia in the second singles.

The Filipinos and the Kuwaitis play the doubles match at 1 p.m. today with Arcilla and Abadia likely to return to the court against Al-Ghareeb and Hussain Al-Ashwak.

It took Arcilla’s courageous stand to keep the Filipinos in the thick of things in the opener of their Davis Cup tie.

Many had thought Arcilla would not last the match but the gusty Butuan City youth buck the debilitating cramps and emerged from the three-hour-and-15-minute duel with his arms up in the air, acknowledging the cheers from the hometown crowd.

Egged on by the fans, the 22-year-old Letran BS marketing student came back to life, surviving a 3-4 deficit in the fourth set and going on to notch his third personal Davis Cup singles victory.

Holding his serve to pull even at 4-4, Arcilla yielded the first point in the next game on an error but scored four straight winners to break the Kuwaiti and move ahead at 5-4.

With the pressure gone, Arcilla bombed away booming serves at Al-Jazaaf, clinching the match with two successive service winners. "I was inspired by the crowd. I drew strength from them," said Arcilla. "Actually, kayang-kaya naman. Kaya lang I started flat because of the tremendous pressure. Hindi ko kaagad nailaro ang laro ko."

Playing cautiously instead of his usual aggressive game, Arcilla struggled to take the first set via the tiebreak.

"Iba talaga ang Davis Cup hindi ko maintindihan. Grabe ang pressure hindi ako nakapag-start ng maayos," he said.

He’s still groping for form when he lost the second set at 5-7. But when he finally got his game going, Arcilla had a relatively easy time taking the third set at 6-1.

He looked headed for a romp when he suffered cramps while serving at 3-2.

Abadia got off to a good start only to blow away commanding leads in the first and second sets in dropping his match.

"Grabe ang lakas ng bola niya. Di ko kaya," said Abadia of his US-based Kuwaiti rival.