PANABO CITY -- Top-ranked men's player Patrick John Tierro of Subic lived up to his billing but 10th seed Michael Accion of Davao City stole the show as he rocked the Mayor James Gamao National Invitational Tennis Championship 2017 opener with a 6-3, 4-6 (10-4) upset win over third seed Ilonggo Vicente Alberto "Onyok" Anasta at the city twin courts or Thursday.
The 21-year-old Accion, who hails from Toril, said, "Gibuhos nako tanan sa super tiebreak. Ako lang jud gigunitan akong serve, wala nako syag ipa-break (I gave everything in the super tiebreak. I hanged on to my serve and didn't allow him to break as much as possible)."
He said it was a good feeling to at last beat Anasta who had been his tormentor in past encounters. Both are playing in bracket B along with Fritz Verdad, John Altiche and John Bryan Otico.
"Lami ang feeling kay unsa lang gud ko wala man koy ranking pero na-upset nako ang isa sa rated players nato run (It felt good for someone like me who have no ranking to beat a rated player in the country)," the National University varsity scholar told SunStar Davao in an interview after the match.
Accion, who is graduating in Sports Management on November 20, hopes to reach the semifinals of the netfest presented by Merco and Selecta and supported by the Philippine Sports Commission, Engr. Glenn Olandria, Bioxtend, Stronghold Insurance, Swiss Deli, Mamma Marias by Paul Abao, Rocky's Barbershop by Timtom Gempesaw, Asiatraders, Slazenger and Dunlop.
Anasta earlier downplayed his chances in the competition having missed action in the past five months.
In bracket A, Tierro leaned on his vast experience to survive past Jan Godfrey Seno of Cebu, 6-3, 6-4. Both players figured in a series of deadlocks and lead changes but Tierro broke away at the stretch of the first set. Seno tried to recover in the second set but he succumbed to costly errors which Tierro capitalized to secure the match in the round-robin format group eliminations.
"I just got lucky I guess," Tierro said, adding that the player from Bogo, Cebu made errors on crucial points.
Davis Cup veteran Tierro also said, "He (Seno) played well naman eh, good serves..yun lang nag-error sya sa important points. Kasi difference namin isang break lang, nag-error sya so nag capitalize lang ako. Nagbawi lang din ako sa serve ko."
He praised 18-year-old Seno as having "a lot of potentials" being young but Tierro added the latter needs "to be more focused on important points and practice his strengths more".
Seno, for his part, said that it was an honor to play against a veteran. He learned that "naay mga points kailangan jud kapitan (there are points I need to hold on to)" as seasoned netters like Tierro will easily take advantage of his errors.
Also entered in bracket A are Davao City's Mark Anthony Alcoseba, Noel Mariano Damian and Leander Lazaro.
Lazaro recovered from a first set loss to beat Alcoseba, 3-6, 6-3 (12-10) while Damian subdued Seno, 6-4, 6-1, and Verdad breezed past Altiche, 6-1, 6-2.
Top two players in each group will advance to the semifinals of the men's singles where winners will battle for the title and the P30,000 top prize. A doubles event is also featured in the tournament that will hold championship games in two categories on Sunday.