Patrombon snares year's first crown

MANILA, Philippines - Top Filipino netter Jeson Patrombon claimed his first title this year as he topped the China Junior 2 tournament in Xiamen, China over the weekend.

Seeded first in the Grade 2 tourney, Patrombon leaned on his strong returns to beat his taller rival in the finals, No. 7 Nikola Milojevic of Serbia, 6-3, 6-1, for the victory that’s expected to boost his bid to land into the Top 30 of the world rankings.

The veteran of the Youth Olympic Games earned 100 ranking points from this triumph, which would likely improve his current standing of 38th in the International Tennis Federation’s junior rankings.

“Jeson displayed the will to win this title,” said Patrombon’s coach Manny Tecson, whose ward had a career-high ranking of 37th last June.

“This result will now propel him into the Top 30 in the world and we are getting closer to our objective of breaking into the Top 10 by the end of the year.”

To meet this goal, Tecson said Patrombon is being lined up for the Japan World Super Juniors on Oct. 18 in Osaka, the LTAT ITF in Thailand on Oct. 25, the Seogwipo Asian/Oceania Closed Championships in Korea on Nov. 2, the Yucatan World Series in Mexico on Nov. 22, and the Eddie Herr International on Nov. 29 and the Dunlop Orange Bowl on Dec. 6 both in the US.

Tecson said that by 2011, they look to enter Patrombon in ITF Futures tournaments to introduce him early to tough professional events.

“Our objective is to focus on his junior tournament, break into the Top 10 and then play $10,000 to $15,000 Futures tournaments. So he’ll get a good start while he is young,” Tecson said.