Tierro heads Pinoy aces bid in ITF Futures 2nd leg

MANILA, Philippines - The country’s top-ranked netter Patrick John Tierro knows the level of difficulty he faces as he leads the charge of the local bets in the 34th Philippine Columbian Association (PCA) Open-Cebuana Lhuillier ITF Men’s Futures 2 beginning today at the PCA clay courts in Paco, Manila.

With newly-crowned PCA Open champion Alberto Lim Jr. out of commission, it is up to Tierro to put up a stellar performance against the foreign players who flew in from all over the world to compete in the tournament supported by Cebuana Lhuillier, Puma, Dunlop, The Philippine Star, Head, Babolat, Compass/IMOSTI and Sarangani Rep. Manny Pacquiao.

Ailing Lim won’t be seeing action .

“This is a different playing field. Mas malalakas na ang mga makakalaban kaya kailangan hundred percent parati sa bawat laro. I need to be focused in each and every game,” said the 30-year-old Tierro, who fell victim in the hands of Lim, 6-3, 7-6 (5), in the men’s singles finals a couple of weeks ago.

Joining Tierro in the main draw are former Australian Open juniors doubles champion Francis Casey Alcantara, eight-time PCA Open titlist Johnny Arcilla, Australian Open juniors quarterfinalist Jeson Patrombon, veteran campaigner Elbert Anasta, and qualifiers Diego Garcia Dalisay, Rolando Ruel and Bryan Otico.

“I am very excited for this year’s edition of the PCA Open being an ITF Men’s Futures.  This will provide our players the opportunity to improve their world ranking and gives them the much needed exposure against world class competition. This will also help us in our preparations for the Davis Cup matches next year,” said Cebuana Lhuillier President and CEO Jean Henri Lhuillier, who also serves as chairman of board of the Philippine Lawn Tennis Association.

Among the world-class netters who are standing in the way of the national bets are Enrique Lopez-Perez of Spain, Kento Takeuchi of Japan and Vinayak Sharma Kaza of India.