RP Cuppers force standoff

Cecil Mamiit killed a giant named Farrukh Dustov yesterday and saved the day for the Philippines in its Davis Cup tie against Uzbekistan at the super-hot PCA indoor courts in Paco, Manila.

The 5-foot-8 Mamiit gave up at least seven inches in height to Dustov. But he showed a bigger heart to pound out a 5-7, 6-3, 5-5 (ret.) victory that left their Asia-Oceania Group 1 tie squared at 1-1.

PJ Tierro, now the country’s No. 2 player, earlier bowed to Dennis Istomin, 6-4, 6-2, 6-3. He tried hard but failed against the top Uzbek player who silenced the crowd and gave the visitors a 1-0 lead.

Dustov is a tough nut to crack. Now ranked 156th in the world, he made a lot of heads turn in a 7-6, 6-3, 5-7, 6-1 loss to Lleyton Hewitt in the second round of the Australian Open last January.

After Tierro dropped the opening singles, Mamiit was hard-pressed to win, and keep the Philippines from falling into a 2-0 hole in the best-of-five tie that resumes at 1 p.m. today with the crucial doubles match.

Mamiit pressed hard, and came out winning.

“It was a battle out there and both of us were nervous. We were both trying our hardest. I’m glad we got started coming out of a 5-0 loss to Japan. It’s nice to start out here with one win and stay equal,” he said.

“But it’s still even. If we win the doubles then we have the momentum. We need another one to get control. At least we’re on the third day,” added Mamiit, now ranked No. 522 from No. 72 in 1999.

“It was not bad. We wanted a 2-0 lead but what can we do? It’s okay. One-one is not bad. We play doubles tomorrow. Mamiit is good but he’s tired, too. Three matches more,” said Istomin at the end of the day.

Dustov, 6-foot-3 and ranked 259th in the world, struggled to take the opening set against Mamiit. And he seemed very bothered by the heat, being fanned by his coach during each break.

In the second set, they started using ice packs on Dustov, on his head and on his neck. Mamiit, the smaller but stronger one, pounced on this early signs of weakness to take the set at 6-3.

The hard-serving Uzbekistan raced to a 3-1 lead in the third set, but may have pushed himself too hard in doing so. He started limping on his left foot as he took a 4-1 lead, and also on right foot a few games after.

During breaks, he ate bananas to help check his cramps. Once he called for a medical timeout, had his pulse checked by the nurse because he said he was feeling dizzy. He was given ammonia.

Mamiit knew Dustov was in trouble, and tied the set at 4-4. The Uzbek tried every trick to conserve his energy, asking for his towel after every point or checking on his shoelaces even when they looked fine.

Dustov took a 5-4 lead and although he refused to quit it looked like he couldn’t take it anymore, getting warnings for game delay and even being deducted a point by the chair umpire. He also disputed a few calls.

The end came when Mamiit hit a perfect drop shot, and Dustov chased the ball, dove for it, and ended up sprawled on the clay court. He got up, threw his racket toward his chair, and called it quits.

The crowd cheered and jeered as the end came after two hours 52 minutes. They were glad that the day ended with the score tied at 1-1 heading into today’s doubles where Mamiit will team up with Eric Taino.

Tierro didn’t last two hours against Istomin, a player almost his size and age but with far greater experience.

Istomin played according to his world ranking of 156, his booming serves just too much for the 21-year-old Tierro. The Uzbek hit six aces, one on his second serve on the fifth game of the second set.

The match that started at 10 a.m. lasted an hour and 58 minutes and was played under hot conditions. The place was like a sauna, but still it had very little effect on the top player from Uzbekistan.

Istomin looked merciless at times. In the sixth game of the second set, he broke Tierro for the fourth time, scoring on an excellent drop shot and then yelling toward the direction of his opponent.