Huey, pal advance in Wimbledon doubles

MANILA, Philippines - Fil-Am Treat Conrad Huey and British partner Dominic Inglot played true to form as the 16th seed as they dumped Spaniards Roberto Bautista-Agut and Daniel Gimeno Traver, 6-3, 6-4, 7-5, to barge into the second round of the Wimbledon men’s doubles last Wednesday.

Seeded for the first time in a grand slam event, Huey and Inglot swamped their unseeded rivals with excellent service that resulted in 15 aces against only four double faults while unloading 21 winners to hack out the straight set win.

“We were very solid and we served well.  When we are serving well, we are a very tough team to beat,” Huey, who surpassed his two previous stints at Wimbledon with this second-round appearance, said via email.

The top Phl netter and Inglot virtually breezed by the first two sets against the Spanish duo but had to come up with big shots in the third to break  a 5-5 standoff.

“They (Agut and Traver) are great players from the baseline, but Dom and I were able to do well when we were at the net and it put a lot of pressure on them,” said Huey.

The Fil-Am and the British will try to move deeper into the prestigious grasscourt netfest when they face unseeded Germans Andre Begemann and Martin Emmrich, 6-2, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-1 winners over Americans Denis Kudla and Tim Smyczek, next. Revenge will also be on the agenda as Huey and Inglot were beaten by the German duo in two previous meetings, the first round of last week’s Topshelf Open and their finals in last month’s Powerhorse Cup.