Fancied hometown netters trounce rivals

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT ZONE–Hometown favorites Patrick John Tierro and PCA junior champion Nico Riego de Dios hurdled their first round opponent in contrasting fashions yesterday in the National Open Tennis Championships at the Subic Bay International Tennis Center here.

The 18-year-old Tierro, considered as the country’s brightest hope for international stardom, demolished long-time pro Sidney Mella, 6-0, 6-0, to enter the second round of this event sponsored by Union Bank of the Philippines, Adidas Philippines, Cebuana Lhuillier, Dunlop Slazenger, HBC, Viva Mineral Water, The Star, San Miguel Corporation, Chris Sports, Smart Addict Mobile Phones and Days Inn Suites.

Tierro’s longtime training partner De Dios had a more difficult time in beating Gian Remigio, 7-5, 4-6, 6-2.

At the end of the one-sided match, Mella heaped praises on the devastating form displayed by Tierro, the seventh seed here.

"The guy has too big a game for me to even get in the scoreboard," said Mella, who remembered Tierro as a young age-grouper several years back. "I see a brighter future ahead for him in Philippine tennis and I wish him all the luck.‚"

The 6-foot-1 Tierro, who worked with former Wimbledon champion Pat Cash in Brisbane and Subic, noted that he was in a zone all throughout the match‚"barely made a mistake,‚" said Tierro, who is under the tutelage of Subic Bay Sports Management Sports Inc. director Beeyong Sison, organizer of this PHILTA Group I event.

While Tierro proved untouchable with his booming serves and effective net plays, De Dios needed to dig deeper into his bag of tricks to dispose Remigio, a US NCAA college standout playing out of Southern Illinois University.

The 16-year-old De Dios needed two hours to repulse Remigio, who fought back from being down 5-7, 0-2 with his serve and volley game which forced the deciding set.

De Dios, however, did not buckle down under tremendous pressure, relying on his accurate groundstrokes to take the sting out of Remigio’s game.

He broke Remigio’s twice in the third set to score the win.

Another exciting match happened between former standouts Randy Villanueva and Francis Factura, now Sison’s deputy at the SBTIC. Villlanueva prevailed, 6-7, 7-5, 6-4.

COMPLETE RESULTS:

Joseph Victorino (2) def Ralph Barte 5-7, 6-2, 6-3; Roland Kraut (13) def Christian Canlas, 6-4, 6-2. Michael Mora def Jandrick de Castro 6-3, 6-3; Nino Salvador def Jhune Lira 6-1, 6-2; Irwin de Guzman def Chase Tinio 6-1, 6-0; Michael Basco def Gabby Remigio (walkover).