By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Philippine lawn tennis national team staple Ruben Gonzales and American partner Hunter Johnson claimed the championship trophy during the €44,820 Trofeul Tiriac-Nastase ATP Challenger event in Bucharest, Romania.
The veteran Filipino tennis superstar made sure they would make up missing the 2021 Davis Cup due to PHILTA’s suspension by the International Tennis Federation (ITF).
Gonzales and Johnson took down the pairing of Maximilian Marterer of Germany and Lukas Rosol of the Czech Republic, 1-6, 6-2, 10-3.
Clinching the third seed heading into the eliminations, Gonzales and Johnson had a tough road ahead in their quest for the championship.
Marterer and Rosol were the favorite duo to win the trophy in Romania after scoring an upset against the no.1 seed tandem of Jamie Cerretani of the US and Luca Margaroli of Switzerland.
However, Gonzales and Johnson used their experience and court familiarization to outlast the favorites in three thrilling sets.
The winning pair had to overcome an erratic start after committing too many unforced errors to finish the first set with only a single set won.
During the second set and the tiebreaker, Gonzales and Johnson began to switch things up and became more aggressive in the net that gave them the edge and the victory.
