Rookie named to RP Davis Cup team

MANILA, Philippines - Fil-Am Ruben Gonzales will make his Davis Cup debut for the Philippines in the tie against Chinese-Taipei at the Yang Ming Tennis Center in Kaohsiung on July 9-11, it was announced by Philippine Tennis Association (Philta) vice president Randy Villanueva yesterday.

Gonzales, 24, will join Cecil Mamiit, 33, Treat Huey, 24, and Johnny Arcilla, 30, in the Cebuana Lhuillier Philippine Davis Cup squad that is out to retain its slot in Group I of the Asia-Oceania zone after losing a 5-0 shutout to Japan in the quarterfinals last March. Team manager is Jean Henri Lhuillier.

A loss to Chinese-Taipei will drop the Philippines to a relegation showdown against the loser of the Uzbekistan-Korea tie with the eventual doormat to be demoted to Group II.

A full-blooded Filipino, Gonzales saw action in the Mitsubishi Lancer ITF Juniors competition here in 2003 as a Philta wildcard. His mother Maria is the sister of former congressman and gamefowl aficionado Patrick Antonio. The 6-1, 175-pound former University of Illinois varsity star compiled an impressive 21-5 singles record in three years with the Fighting Illini.

“Ruben can play both singles and doubles,” said Villanueva. “I think what he brings to the team now is with him and Johnny together, we have another legitimate doubles pair so that if Cecil and Treat have a hard singles game, they can actually rest with Ruben and Johnny stepping up to play doubles. With a team like Johnny and Ruben, there is less pressure on Cecil and Treat in singles because they know we have a good doubles team to rely on.”

Villanueva said the four players are competing in various tournaments to stay in shape for the Davis Cup.

Mamiit recently downed American Sahak Bazrganian, 6-1, 6-0, in the finals of the Southern California sectionals, one of 16 US Tennis Association subregions, at the Claremont Club. The win earned for Mamiit a ticket to play in the US Open playoffs in Atlanta on July 22-25.

“Treat is continuously playing in the ATP Challenger tour with Cecil,” reported Villanueva. “Johnny is playing a lot in the local circuit and hasn’t been beaten this year. Ruben will play in the ITF Futures in Guam and three more Futures tournaments in Japan before getting together with his teammates in Manila and heading to Kaohsiung a week before the tie.”

The Philippines has never lost to Chinese-Taipei in four previous Davis Cup ties. Joseph Lizardo, Bryan Juinio and Michael Misa led the Philippines to a come-from-behind 3-2 victory in the last meeting at the Rizal Memorial courts in 1999. The other wins were 4-0 in Taipei in 1976, 4-1 at the Philippine Columbian Association courts in 1993 and 3-2 in Taichung in 1996.

Arcilla has played in 24 Davis Cup ties since 2000 with a singles record of 13-12. Mamiit, the gold medalist in men’s singles in the last three Southeast Asian Games, has compiled a 14-6 singles record in 15 ties since 2006 while Huey is 2-2 in singles and 3-1 in doubles in four ties since joining the team last year.

Chinese-Taipei has not confirmed its lineup for the Philippine tie although it is expected that the home team will be bannered by Tsung Hua Yang, Chu Juan Yi and Hsin Han Lee who all suited up in the recent loss to Australia. Yang, 19, has the highest ATP singles ranking in the team at No. 310, compared to Mamiit who is No. 467. Yi, 22, is ranked No. 514 and Lee, 22, No. 819.

Huey is ranked No. 741, Gonzales No. 939 and Arcilla, No. 1307.