Patrombon bows to US bet in final

MANILA, Philippines - Top seed Jeson Patrombon’s hot streak came into a crashing halt after he fell to seventh pick Sean Berman of the US, 0-6, 6-2, to wind up a losing finalist in the ITF/LTAT Junior Tennis Championship in Nonthaburi, Thailand.

After surviving three nerve-wracking three-setters going into the finale, the 17-year-old Patrombon appeared spent against his American foe to drop a surprisingly lopsided championship match.

Patrombon, a quarterfinalist in last January’s Australian Juniors Open where Berman finished in the round-of-16, however, gained 100 ITF ranking points for just making it that far.

It also boosted the Iligan City pride’s chance of improving on his current World Juniors No. 9 ranking last year on the Tour.

Patrombon also picked up 50 ranking points in the doubles event after he and Kiwi Jaden Grinter made it as far as the semis before running into Pedja Krstin of Serbia and Maxim Lunkin of Russia, 6-4, 4-6, 10-8. 

Patrombon hopes to get some more points and perhaps clinch another title when he joins the Sarawak Chief Minister’s Cup – a tournament ranked just one level behind the Grand Slam – in Kuching, Malaysia next week.

The country’s top junior netter will then return to Manila after the Malaysia trip to participate in a strong ITF-sanctioned tournament here.

Patrombon had a grueling week as he needed to survive Pedja Krstin of Serbia, Paul Monteban of the Netherlands and Teodor Nicolae Marin of Romania needing a third and deciding set to escape the upset axe.

Against Berman, he didn’t have enough energy left to pull off another squeaker.