Visitors take the doubles with consummate ease
Sri Lanka’s pride in the ongoing Davis Cup Asia-Oceania Zone Group II tie against the Philippines was dragged down to the pit, after the visitors galloped to take the lead of the series 2-1m with a comprehensive win in the doubles clash, played at the Sri Lanka Tennis Association (SLTA) courts in Colombo yesterday.
The Philippines doubles partners Ruben Gonzales and Treat Huey had no trouble at all to seal a comprehensive win in three straight sets as they thrashed Sri Lanka’s Harshana Godamanne and Rajeev Rajapakse by 6-1, 6-0 and 6-1. Godamanne and Rajapakse were pitted to take on Heuy and Johnny Arcilla, but the latter was replaced by Gonzales.
Philippines doubles players Treat Huey (L) and Ruben Gonzales (R) outclassed Sri Lanka pair Harshana Godamanne and Rajeev Rajapakshe at SLTA - Pic by Amila Gamage
The much experienced Gonzales and Huey tamed Godamanne, the local top ranked singles player, and Rajapakse with powerful serves, which was their strongpoint in the battle that lasted for little over an hour. The Sri Lankan pair was outclassed at length with Gonzales, the top ranked single player from Philippines, executing his vast experience along with his partner Huey, who turned out after his appearance in the quarterfinals at the concluded Australian Grand Slam.
Though the Sri Lankan pair avoided a complete thrashing, by collecting a point each in the first and the third sets, the home team played a lopsided game in the second set disappointing the local fans. The Philippines supporters had much to rejoice with the performances of their team, who were unmatchable and beyond the standards of the locals.
The expectations of the Filipinos in recording a 5-0 whitewash was given a second thought on Friday, the opening day of the series, when Sri Lanka’s top ranked tennis player Godamanne recorded an unexpected win against Philippines second seed Patrick Tierro. The battle which dragged for over four hours was snatched by Godamanne with the scoreline of 6-3, 6-7, 4-6, 6-2 and 6-3, providing all the thrills and fills.
But top ranked Gonzales made Sri Lankan second seed Dineshkanthan Thangarajah look petty with a straight 6-3, 6-3 and 6-0 win later on.
Sri Lanka’s non-playing captain Rohan de Silva, said he was pleased of his players’ approach yesterday, despite the thrashing by the Filipinos, and was hopeful of a Godamanne win in today’s crucial game in the return.
“It’s obvious the Philippines players were much better than ours. But with the resources we have, around us, the performance of Godamanne and Rajapakse can be termed as ‘pleasing’. We are at a point where much is banked from Harshana (Godamanne), if we are to reach a two-all tie and then focus beyond. But with the fact of Sri Lanka being the only side sans professionals in tennis, among eight teams in the group, we have done up to our expectations. But we must improve,” he said.
Godamanne, who has turned out to be Sri Lanka’s saviour, however was able to get some firsthand experience against his singles opponent of today, Gonzales. The Philippines non-playing captain Roland Kraut explaining on today’s tie told the Sunday Times that they are not underestimating the Sri Lankans at any cost.
“Nothing comes easy at this level, though we won the doubles game comprehensively. We are not taking anything lightly as our aim is to win the remaining games. We know that Godamanne is a very good player but we are training hard, after each game. We are looking forward to put up a good show and win both games on Sunday,” Kraut said.
Both winners of Friday, Godamanne and Gonzales, will face off today in an anticipated thrilling battle, followed by the game between the second seeds Tierro and Thangarajah.