MANILA, Philippines - Jeson Patrombon took a numbing 2-6, 1-6 loss to Japanese Kento Takeuchi and bowed out in the Indonesia F2 Futures tournament in Surabaya, Indonesia recently.
Ranked 838th by the ATP, the 23-year-old Takeuchi used his experience and top conditioning to outclass the pro from Iligan City (1,535th) and advance to the Last 8 of the $10,000 netfest against Thailand’s Warit Sornbutnark, 6-1, 4-2 retired winner over Japan’s Taoki Ishii.
“Takeuchi is a tough player,” Patrombon’s coach Manny Tecson said. “To beat Takeuchi you have to have fresh legs and you should be on top of your game. Jeson was hitting the ball great but his mobility was not as good as yesterday (first round) when he beat (Thailand’s) Kirati Siributwong in 2 hours and a half in very hot weather (6-2, 7-5).”
The Last-16 stint matched Patrombon’s career-best in the men’s circuit, having reached the same stage in the India F5 Futures last April.
The finish also earned the junior ace his second ATP point, which according to Tecson, would propel Patrombon to somewhere within the 1,200th spot, from his current 1,535th.
Next up for the 18-year-old Patrombon is the Indonesia F3 Futures meet on June 6-12 in Jakarta, where he will resume his quest to breach the Top 1,000 ranking. He is also set to hook up with Fil-Am Dennis Lajola, a former University of Hawaii player in the doubles.
“I believe in Jakarta we will do even better and hopefully pick up some more points for us to break the top 1,000 after this (Indonesian) circuit,” Tecson said.