Patrombon seeks Phl breakthru win

MANILA, Philippines - Focus will be on top seed Jeson Patrombon as the 22nd Mitsubishi-Lancer International Junior Championships blast off today at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center.

Patrombon, 17, will come into the Grade 1 netfest as a prohibitive favorite to secure a breakthrough win for the hosts in boys’ singles, owing to his quarterfinal stint in the Australian Open Juniors and runner-up finishes in two previous junior meets in Malaysia and Thailand.

“Pareho lang ang approach namin dito at sa tournaments sa Malaysia at Thailand at hindi ko na rin iniisip yung pressure (We treat the tournament with the same approach as the previous events in Malaysia and Thailand so that I won’t feel too much pressure to deliver on home soil),” Patrombon told The STAR.

The Iligan pride and his entourage led by coach Manny Tecson flew back home from Malaysia yesterday afternoon and immediately proceeded to the Rizal Tennis Center to have his practice.

“This has been a fruitful Asian Circuit for us, Jeson was in the finals in Thailand and Malaysia in singles and doubles. Coming over here, we’re in good shape and his confidence is really high,” Tecson said.

As top seed, Patrombon will have the luxury of taking a first-round bye, enjoying an extra day of practice. He will debut tomorrow against the winner between Chinese Gao Xin and German Patrick Elias.

Patrombon is the only seeded competitor among the Phl netters. Samantha Mae Coyuito, the last remaining Phl netter in yesterday’s qualifying draw, yielded to Belgian No. 1 Justine De Sutter, 2-6, 3-6, to bomb out of the main draw along with six other local aspirants.

But the hosts assigned wild card slots to 12 players - Jurence Mendoza, Juan Alfonso Opulencia, Calvin Canlas, Andrew Joshua Cano, Enrique Ferrer, and Kyle Parpan in boys’ singles and Clarice Patrimonio, Tamitha Nguyen, Marinel Rudas, Marian Capadocia, Maika Tanpoco, and Anne Rene Castillo in the girls’ side.

Today’s opening round matches pit Nguyen versus Swedish Susanne Celik; Rudas against Belgian Elke Lemmens; Capadocia against Romanian Patricia Maria Tig; Patrimonio versus Indonesian Nadia Ravita; Castillo versus Canadian Kimberly Ann Surin; Tanpoco against Belgian qualifier Klaartje Liebens; Canlas versus Mexican Juan Pablo Murra; Parpan against Japanese Soichiro Moritani; and Cano against Chinese Zhaoyi Cao.