PANABO CITY, Davao del Norte -- Heavy rains only delayed what was inevitable as heavy favorite and top seed Patrick John Tierro crowned himself singles champion of the Mayor James Gamao National Invitational Championship 2017 Sunday evening at the city twin courts here.
Tierro of Subic, a Davis Cup veteran and member of the national tennis team, leaned on his vast championship experience to defeat former University Athletic Association of the Philippines (Uaap) most valuable player (MVP) Fritz Verdad, 6-3, 7-5, in the highly-anticipated match that lasted for about two hours and left both players exhausted.
"Third match ko na today pagod narin talaga," Tierro, who was heard coughing during the titular showdown, said in an interview with Sun.Star Davao after the match.
The win was Tierro's second singles title in the tournament, now on its sixth edition, presented by Selecta and Merco. The past five stagings, however, were held in Davao City. Tierro first won the netfest in 2014.
He paced early on in the first set, 4-1, with aces that left 23-year-old Verdad helpless. The latter tried to come back and close the gap, 3-5, with aces of his own but Tierro countered with strong serves that secured him the first set.
Verdad, for his part, bounced back in the second set, taking a 4-1 advantage with powerful backhand returns and top spins but Tierro heated up once again, capitalizing on his service winners to tie the game at 4-all. Verdad tried to stay alive, snatching back the lead, 5-4, but Tierro equalized when it was his turn to serve and never looked back to wrap up the match.
Tierro said, "I like the fast court kasi. Gusto ko yung ganito isang break lang and I capitalized on my break."
Verdad, in a separate interview, was all praises to his rival. "Sobrang galing talaga ni PJ, sobrang bilis, hirap ireturn ang serve nya. Nung naglead ako 4-1 di ko rin alam tired narin siguro."
He was happy with his performance though having reached the finals for the first time in the men's open competition as he was only a quarterfinalist last year.
"Ikalawang beses narin namin ni PJ magmeet at sobrang bugbog ako nun, 6-7, 0-6. At least ngayon nagkadikit kami. Masaya po ako sa performance ko dito," Verdad said.
Tierro received P30,000 while Verdad settled for the P20,000 runner-up prize of the four-day event supported by the Philippine Sports Commission along with Glenn Olandria, Bioxtend, Stronghold Insurance, Swiss Deli, Mamma Marias by Paul Abao, Rocky's Barbershop by Timtom Gempesaw, Asiatraders, Slazenger, Dunlop, Representative Tonyboy Floirendo and Davao City Tourism Operations Office officer-in-charge Generose Tecson.