By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Philippine national lawn tennis team legends Treat Huey and Ruben Gonzales recently made waves overseas after reigning supreme in the 2022 Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Savannah Challenger held in Georgia, USA.
The experienced pair got the better of Zhizhen Zhang of China and Tung-Lin Wu from Chinese-Taipei, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4, during the championship match of another ATP pro circuit tournament.
It was nostalgia all-over as the veteran PHL pairing put the crowd in Georgia to their feet after displaying excellent communication both offensively in the net area and defensively when they covered the no man’s land during the exchanges.
Huey and Gonzales also showed composure and great hold as Zhang and Wu laid all their cards to make the two-set championship match thrilling.
Despite being down early in the match, the international pair stormed back and punished team PHL in the baseline but Huey and Gonzales responded and countered with their own strategy.
As Zhang and Wu dominated the net area in the second set, Huey and Gonzales shifted gears and threw top spin lob balls to break their momentum moving forward.
The move paid dividends and helped them get back into the match as Gonzales shifted his focus offensively every time Huey set him up for an easy smash in the net.
The Savannah trophy is Huey’s second ATP Challenger championship title and is Gonzales’ first since joining his compatriots in the international circuit tournaments.
Meanwhile, Francis Casey Alcantara, another Filipino tennis living legend, followed Huey and Gonzales’ gold medal finish with another one after clinching the $25,000 ITF M25 Cairo tournament together with partner Colin Sinclair from the Northern Marianas Islands.
