Lim survives black day in tennis

MANILA, Philippines — Alberto Lim Jr. advanced to the Southeast Asian Games tennis men’s singles second round after upsetting Singapore’s eighth seed Shaheed Alam, 7-6 6-4, at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Court yesterday.

“I’m just really, really happy. I give credit to my opponent who played really well. But I gave my 100 percent, and I guess I’m really lucky,” said Lim, saving the day for Team Phl after his teammates fell by wayside one after the other.

Lim said he drew energy from the cheering crowd as he got past Alam to make the next round versus Thai fourth seed Kasidit Samrej.

Lim was the lone survivor in the day after women’s singles ace and 2017 SEA Games’ silver medalist Clarice Patrimonio bowed out of contention after a 2-6, 2-6 defeat at the hands of Savanna Ly Nguyen of Vietnam.

The country’s mixed doubles contenders also took the exit with Treat Huey and Denise Dy being defeated by Indonesians Aldila Sutjiadi and Christopher Rungkat, 7-6, 3-6, 11-13, and the pair of Khim Iglupas and Francis Alcantara succumbing to Thai counterparts Tamarin Tanasugarn and Sanchai Ratiwatana, 4-6 5-7.

The 20-year old Lim broke early in the first set and took a commanding 4-1 lead before Alam rallied back to even the game at 4-4. A seesaw battle ensued before Lim emerged victorious, 7-6, in the opening set.

In the second set, Lim trailed at 2-4 but waged a wondrous rally, winning the next four games to seal his win.