Aussie biggie sends Patrombon back to earth

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines’ Jeson Patrombon saw his title bid screech to a halt as he dropped a 2-6, 3-6 loss to Australia’s Benjamin Mitchell in the semifinals of the Grade 1 ITF/LTAT Junior Tennis Championships in Nonthaburi, Thailand.

Patrombon, 17, couldn’t sustain the momentum of his inspiring victories in the previous rounds as he ran into a more aggressive and inspired Mitchell, whose world No. 125 ranking is higher than the Filipino’s No. 212.

Fast-rising Marinel Rudas likewise saw her Cinderalla bid foiled as she bowed to No. 7 Tracy Dong of Canada, 2-6, 2-6, in the quarters of a Grade 4 ITF event in Bander Seri Begawan, Brunei.

The win sets Mitchell up against ninth seed Jeong Suk Young of Korea, who happens to be the same person that sent another RP bet, Francis Casey Alcantara, packing in the quarterfinals.

Jeong arranged the interesting finale by upstaging Hungarian No. 2 Mate Zsiga in a surprisingly lopsided 6-1, 6-1 victory.

Patrombon, a pride of Iligan City, went home with his best effort in a Grade 1 tournament since finishing in the quarterfinals of another event in Osaka, Japan years back.

The Filipino sensation also earned 80 singles ranking points as well as 20 double points for landing in the top 16 with Thai partner Nuttanon Kadchapanan that should keep him climbing the ITF ladder.

Patrombon’s long list of victims included Laos’ Vitaya Lasavady, 6-1, 6-2, No. 16 Campbell Johnson of the United States, 2-6, 7-5, 6-4, No. 3 Dominic Thiem of Australia, 6-4, 6-3 and Andrew Whittington of Australia, 6-2, 6-4.