Treat Huey and Francis Casey Alcantara secured a four-set win over Sharmal Dissanayake and Dineshkantan Thangarajah, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4, as the Cebuana Lhuillier-Philippines squad clinched their Davis Cup tie with Sri Lanka with an insurmountable 3-0 lead at Valle Verde Country Club.
The doubles victory rendered today’s reverse singles—Tierro against Dissanayake and Alcantara against Harshana Godamanna—insignificant, as the hosts assured themselves of a semifinal berth, possibly against Chinese Taipei, which holds a 2-0 lead over Lebanon in their matchup.
“It was a very good showing for the team and hopefully that will boost our morale going into the next tie,” said PH team manager Jean Henri Lhuillier.
Non-playing team captain Roland Kraut stated they would still aim for a 5-0 result as he replaced Ruben Gonzales with Alcantara in the fifth rubber. The two reverse singles will both be best-of-three affairs.
Gonzales gave the Filipinos a 2-0 lead late Friday after Patrick John Tierro won the opening singles with a come-from-behind 5-7, 3-6, 6-4, 6-0, 6-3 victory over Godamanna. Gonzales followed with an easier 6-3, 6-2, 6-1 win over Dissanayake.
“I think we have regained our confidence after last year (when PH lost to Pakistan), and we will go all out tomorrow to finish the tie on a high note,” added Kraut.
Huey and Alcantara came back after losing the first set, showcasing superb work at the net and sharply angled volleys, capping their masterful display by racing to 5-2 in the fourth set.
“First set they really played well and I was so tight I was missing shots,” said Alcantara. “But after the service break in the second set, we relaxed and from there we took over.”
Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer