PH, Indonesia split opening singles in Davis Cup

Members of the Philippine team with Philippine Tennis Association president, Atty. Antonio Cablitas (4th from left) during the draw ceremony in Jakarta, Indonesia on Friday. (Photo by Cynthia Wibaba)

MANILA— David Agung Susanto defeated Jeson Patrombon, 6-2, 7-5, to give Indonesia a 1-1 tie with the Philippines after the opening singles matches on Saturday in the Davis Cup Asia-Oceania Zone Group II competition at the Gelora Bung Karno Tennis Stadium Complex in Jakarta, Indonesia.

The 26-year-old Susanto, who is No. 1420 in the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) singles rankings, fired five aces to prevail over Patrombon in their two-hour encounter.

Susanto is now 2-0 against Patrombon in their head-to-head record.

The Indonesian won, 7-6(6), 6-2, in the round-of-32 of the Thailand Futures 1 in 2012.

Earlier, Alberto “AJ” Lim Jr. conquered Muhammad Althaf Dhaifullah, 6-3, 6-2, in the first singles.

It was the first meeting between Lim and Dhaifullah.

Sunday’s schedule features the doubles and two reverse singles matches.

Francis Casey Alcantara and Jurence Mendoza will be playing against Susanto and Justin Barki in the doubles.

The reverse singles will pit Lim against Susanto in the first match, and Patrombon against Dhaifullah in the second match.

Patrombon, who hails from Iligan City, has played in eight Davis Cup ties since 2011.

Alcantara and Lim both played in the Southeast Asian Games in Malaysia last year.

Mendoza is a member of the Oklahoma State University (OSU) Cowboys.

He posted the third most doubles wins of any OSU player in the 2015-2016 season.