Patrombon, Kiwi reach 2nd round

MANILA, Philippines - Jeson Patrombon and Jaden Grinter of New Zealand outclassed Ryota Kishi of Japan and Nikola Milojevic of Serbia, 6-3, 6-3, to reach the second round of the Australian Open Juniors boys’ doubles competitions in Melbourne, Australia yesterday.

Gaining momentum from his opening day victory in the singles competition, Patrombon teamed up with Grinter in dominating the Kishi-Milojevic tandem throughout their 56-minute encounter en route to a Round-of-16 stint in the Grade A tournament.

Like Patrombon, Grinter entered Court 14 of the Melbourne Park National Tennis Centre fresh from a big win over No. 12 Dimitri Bretting of Switzerland, 6-3, 6-2, in one of Sunday’s singles matches.

Up next for the 17-year-old Filipino ace and his Kiwi partner is the third-seeded Australian duo of Ben Wagland and Andrew Whittington, who scored a hard-earned 6-7 (3), 6-3, 10-8 victory over Canadian Andrew Ochotta and Slovak Nik Razborsek.

Patrombon, ranked 12th in the International Tennis Federation (ITF) junior rankings, is also priming up for his Round-of-32 matchup with Miki Jankovic of Serbia in the boys’ singles’ hostilities.

The pride of Iligan City opened his campaign with a tough 6-4, 7-6 (5) win over Jordan Thompson of Australia the other day where he had to buck blistered hands and a hostile crowd.

“I am very proud of Jeson because he responded and I can see and feel his pain inside the court every time he runs for a ball or hits his groundstrokes,” said Patrombon’s coach Manny Tecson.

“We were also up against the Australian crowd who were cheering and chanting loudly for their player. I just kept telling Jeson not to give up and keep fighting,” he added.