Saturday, June 04, 2005
Tierro gets first slot
By Jade S. Violeta
Sun.Star Staff Reporter
It seems there is no stopping the country’s top-ranked player, Patrick John Tierro, from dominating the 1st Vice Gov. Sanchez Men’s National Tennis Open.
The Subic Bay Sports Management Inc. protégé bagged the first semifinals seat yesterday in the country’s richest tennis tournament at the Liloan Tennis Club in Liloan, Cebu.
This as all the Cebuano players in the tournament took the exit route, leaving the race for the plum to the nationally-ranked netters.
The top-seeded 19-year old Tierro, the lone Filipino netter to gain an ATP ranking after his stint in the $25,000 ITF Men’s Satellite Masters in New Delhi, India last November, showed why he’s currently the hottest player in the country as he disposed of two rivals in one day on his way to the semis.
The 2004 Philta Open Champion Tierro, who already has the largest wins in terms of money in the event, first booted out Iligan City’s Joel Palao, 6-3, 6-2, in their Round of 16 encounter earlier in the day.
Ripped
Later in the afternoon, Tierro, who along with World ITF Junior-ranked player Nico Riego de Dios and Filipino-German lass Anja Vanessa Peter, are members of the Cebuana Lhuillier Touring Squad, ripped the 10th-seeded Elbert Anasta in pretty much the same fashion, 6-2, 6-3, to secure the semis berth.
With his entry into the semifinal round, the 6-foot-1 Tierro now has a total of P35,000 in cash earnings as a seat in the semis is worth P20,000, the quarterfinals P10,000 and P5,000 in Round of 16.
During his three-month European trip, Tierro impressed four leading tennis clubs in Germany that readily offered him a slot in next year’s Bundesliga (German Interclub Championships).
Meanwhile, those who were still slugging it out at press time yesterday for a semis berth were 4th-seed Rolando Ruel, Jr., who was battling the 6th-seeded Adelo Abadia and 2nd-seed Johnny Arcilla, who was squaring off against 5th-seed Chemiel Mantua.
Arcilla forged a quarterfinal duel versus Mantua after the Southern Leyte-native but Manila-based Arcilla demolished World ITF Junior ranked player Nico Riego de Dios earlier in the Round of 16.
Mantua, for his part, entered the quarterfinals with a 6-2, 6-0 win over Ricardo Lagac Jr. in the Round of 16.
Quarterfinals
Ruel, on the other hand, barged into the quarterfinals after his 6-4, 6-3 win over 16th-seed Miguel Narvaez, while the former’s rival, Abadia, is a 6-2, 6-1 winner over 9th-seed Rocky Paglalunan also in the Round of 16.
The other winners in the Round of 16 but are yet to play in the quarterfinals are 8th-seed Alexander Lazaro, who booted out wildcard Jaime Solob
N, 6-1, 6-0, and 3rd-seed Joseph Victorino, who edged out 13th-seed Yannick Guba of Bacolod City.
(June 4, 2005 issue)
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