Saturday, February 10, 2007 RP, Pakistan tie 1-1 in Davis Cup opening
MANILA - Cecil Mamiit succeeded but Eric Taino failed in the first two singles matches yesterday, sending the Philippines and Pakistan to a 1-1 deadlock in the 2007 Asia-Oceania Zone Group 11 Davis Cup tie at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center.
The 30-year-old Mamiit, ranked no. 190 in the world, worked on a steady baseline game en route to an easy 6-1, 6-0, 6-1 win over unranked Jalil Khan of Pakistan for an early 1-0 lead for the host team.
But a few hours later, Pakistan's top player Aqeel Khan, ranked no. 525th in the ATP, survived a tough match against the 31-year-old Taino, 6-4, 0-6, 7-6 (7-2), 7-5, to level the count at 1-1.
"We are still confident we can win against Pakistan. It was just that Eric suffered cramps in the third set," said RP team captain Martin Misa.
The doubles pair of Johnny Arcilla and Patrick John Tierro is originally scheduled to meet Aqeel and Asim Shafik today at 1 p.m.
Misa said he may use the pair of Mamiit and Taino in the lone doubles match today to gain the needed advantage going into the last two reverse singles tomorrow.
Advantage
"Actually, we have still to assess the situation of Eric. But if everything is fine, then we will use them in the doubles to at least gain the advantage going to the final day," added Misa.
After losing the first set, 4-6, the 472nd ranking Taino, poured his all in the second set for a 6-0 score, but the effort was too costly as the left calf of the New Jersey born Filipino-American began to tighten, allowing Aqeel to take the next two sets in a close contest that ended in three hours and 25 minutes.
"Yesterday we were thinking of only 40 percent chances of winning. But the victory of Aqeel made it now 50-50. We have high respect for Cecil because of his bronze victory in the Asian Games. But our chances now appear to be good," said Pakistan team captain Hamid Ul Haq, whose team reached group 1 last year. (FCC)
