Trumpeting Patrombon

A mere decade ago, Jeson Patrombon was an active, downtrodden seven-year old shagging balls at tennis clubs in Iligan City. He bore the dry heat, dust and fatigue just so he could earn a living. And since it was his livelihood, tiny Jeson decided to try it out. Since he didn’t have a tennis racquet, he used a flat “lapad” bottle of Tanduay as his first racquet. Later on, he fashioned his next racquet out of plywood, and that kept him going for a while.

As of the end of Jan. 2011, the 17-year old Patrombon is now ninth in the world according to the International Tennis Federation’s ranking of junior tennis players. There are eight Europeans and one Australian in the Top Ten with him. He is therefore the only Asian ranked that high. His amazing run in the last three years was capped by a quarterfinals appearance at the Australian Open last week, the highest finish in a Grand Slam by a Filipino in recent memory.

Wednesday last week, Patrombon blasted hometown favorite and 10th seed Andrew Whittington, who wilted, 6-4, 3-6, 6-0. He eventually succumbed to fourth seed George Morgan of England.

But when you think about how far Jeson has come in so short a time, the transformation is even more amazing. Before he received formal coaching in 2007, he couldn’t generate proper speed for his racquet head, he wasn’t turning his upper body to generate torque, he wasn’t using his legs properly to add force, his footwork was atrocious, and he certainly had no idea how to prepare shots or construct points.

“At first, I wasn’t impressed, because there was so much to change in his game,” admits Jeson’s coach, former Davis Cup captain Manny Tecson. “But before I coach players, I ask them why they want to play tennis. Most will say they want to be number one. Jeson said ‘I want to help my family’.”

That did the trick. Taking a leap of faith and leaving his long-standing job as program head of the Manila Southwoods Tennis Academy, Tecson struck a deal with Rep. Romeo Jalosjos, who chairs and funds the Tennis Academy of the Philippines Foundation (TAPF) in Muntinlupa. If the chairman would be Jeson’s patron, Tecson would coach him. TAPF would be his home, with a dormitory, gym and swimming pool, and even an in-house Japanese restaurant for him and other promising junior players.

After a year of reconstructing his game from scratch, Patrombon was thrown into lower-level competitions to accumulate points for rankings. He built up his experience in local tournaments, though his growth had to be somewhat rushed because of his age. He joined the ITF International Juniors Circuit in Manila, and the ITF Junior Circuit in Sri Lanka. Finally, he emerged champion of the Singapore Junior Championship. It was time to move up.

Campaigning in levels 3, 2, and 1 in 2009, Patrombon reached the quarterfinals in several major tournaments, among them the Bangladesh ITF Junior Championships, the ITF/LTAT Junior Championships in Thailand, the ITF Malaysian World Junior Tennis Championships, and the World Super Junior Tennis Championships in Japan.

In 2010, Patrombon jumped into Grand Slam tournaments, the US Open, Wimbledon and the French Open. He also played for the Philippines in the Youth Olympic Games.

“I told Jeson that now, his family does not just mean his relatives, but all Filipinos,” Tecson adds. “That drove him even more.”

Unfortunately, while playing in the Yucatan World Cup in Mexico, Jeson developed a wart on his left foot, requiring minor surgery. Missing key tournaments kept him from making the Top Ten outright by year’s end. From 48th in April, he finished 2010 number 12 in the world.

Because he was also being prepared for his eventual climb into the men’s competitions, Jeson was being trained doubly hard, so much so that the blisters on his hand and foot became so raw, they bled.

Tecson used the injuries as added motivation. Bigger things were still in store. Among them was the eye-popping spectacle of actually being in the Australian Open.

“When we first arrived and I saw all those people, I was amazed,” said the smiling, 5’8” Patrombon. “I didn’t know how big tennis was in Australia. But I was never nervous.”

It sent chills up his spine when he made it to the quarterfinals. Jeson will turn 18 in March. His imminent adulthood also called for a change in his relationship with his coach.

“I told Jeson, I will no longer treat him like a junior player,” explains Tecson. “I will treat him like a professional player, like a man. You could see the difference in how he looks at the game now.

Actually, he has the same skills that all the other players do. All that he needs now is just a little more experience, how to construct points, plan his shots ahead more.”

For 2011, Jeson’s goals will be to divide his time between 60 percent men’s tournaments, and 40 percent juniors tournaments.

Given his age, he will hit at least one more growth spurt, so he could eventually hover around six feet tall, big enough to at least be at least athletically equal to the greats of the game a few years down the road.

“I really want to play for my country,” he stresses. “I’m proud that I am a Filipino.”

Even Tecson confirms that the priority is playing for flag and country, particularly the Southeast Asian Games at the end of the year. This month, they will fly to Bangkok to earn even more rankings points. It will be an even more arduous climb for the duo when the men’s competitions roll in. Both have been traveling to other countries on their own for the better part of two years now. And the mission isn’t over yet. As of now, Patrombon is even being considered to be a late addition to the Philippine Davis Cup team that will play a juggernaut Japan side in their Asia-Oceania Group 1 tie slated March 4-6.

Duty calls for the kid who leaped from dirt courts and a bottle of “lapad” to the world’s junior tennis elite.