Venus sets Kiwis in right orbit against Pinoy rivals

CEBU, Philippines - Michael Venus repulsed Fil-Am Ruben Gonzales in their grueling five-set battle that lasted for over four hours as New Zealand drew first blood over the Philippines in their Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Group II finals showdown last night at the Plantation Bay Resort and Spa in Lapu-Lapu City.

Gonzales, who just turned 28 years old the other day, was confident of repeating his mastery over Venus, whom he already beat in their previous two encounters abroad.

But as it is said, the Davis Cup is entirely a different thing and Venus patiently waited for the right moment to exact vengeance at Gonzales, hammering his way to a 4-6, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (6), 6-0 win.

Gonzales actually broke the ice of the match, but Venus bounced back in the second set, then overcame a fourth set thriller before shutting down his Fil-Am foe decisively in the final set to set up the Kiwis into right orbit against the host Pinoys.

Venus nailed the first point of the first set, but Gonzales rallied back with savvy to grab the upperhand, 4-2, which he deftly parlayed into a 6-4 victory.

Venus recovered quickly and took away the less thrilling second set, 6-3, that was over in less than 30 minutes.

Staring at a 1-all deadlock going into the third set, the Filipino fans cheered to the top of their voice that somehow energized Gonzales. Venus though hit the first two points, but Gonzales turned the tables around with three straight points on two services aces and a break serve.

After Venus tied the score at 4-all, Gonzales racked up two straight points off a successive errors by Venus for the kill, 6-4, and a two sets to one edge.

With his backed pinned against the wall, Venus tried to hang on, engaging Gonzales in long rallies until the Pinoy bet unleashed several aces to take command of the fourth set.

Venus, however, showed big fighting heart to forge a 6-all deadlock. In the tie-break, Gonzales again grabbed the early lead, but Venus gamely fought back to eventually steal the fourth set via a 7-6 nail-biter, thus, the rubbermatch.

What was expected to be a close fifth set turned into a one-sided duel as Venus, still loaded with plenty of ammunition in his arsenal, went on to hold virtual clinic in demolishing the obviously fagged out Gonzales, 6-0, sending the match into an anticlimactic ending for the Filipino spectators.

“When you’re playing on another country, you just have to do what you can. At the fourth set, I still had a lot of energy and went for the win," said Venus, who is set to play in the doubles today alongside Marcus Daniell against Phl's Treat Conrad Huey and Francis Casey Alcantara. (FREEMAN)