Tierro rallies to beat Spanish foe, enters quarters in Olivarez netfest

MANILA, Philippines – Patrick John Tierro unnerved Spain's Adam Sanjurjo Hermida by varying his shots in the final two sets and eked out a come-from-behind 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 victory to remain the lone Filipino survivor in the singles of the $15,000 Olivarez-Cup-Philippine International Men's Tennis Championship at the Rizal Tennis Center Thursday.

After trying and failing to overpower his Spanish foe, Tierro, 27, intelligently changed tactics as he unloaded an array of shots that took the sting out of his short-fused opponent and escape with the win that sent him straight to the quarterfinals of this event bankrolled by tennis chief Edwin Olivarez.

"I knew I couldn't beat him (Hermida) strength for strength so I decided to change tactic and varied my shots in the second and third sets," said Tierro, a member of the Phl Davis Cup team that will play Pakistan in a Group II tie at the PCA courts from April 4 to 6.

"Thankfully it worked to my advantage as it got to him and was never the same the rest of the way," he added.

It was a win that ended Hermida's giant-slaying ways after pulling the rug from under No. 7 Ivo Minar of Czech Republic, a member of the team headed by Tom Berdych and Radek Stepanek that won the 2012 Davis Cup title over Spain, with a 7-6(5), 6-2 win in Wednesday's first round.

Tierro will clash with another Spaniard, this time a higher ranked fourth pick Roberto Ortega-Olmedo, who booted out countryman Carlos Boluda Purkiss, 6-3, 6-2, in today's quarters.

Davis Cupper Johnny Arcilla, the other Filipino standing after the opening round, fell to No. 5 Andrew Whittington of Australia, 6-4, 6-2, leaving Tierro the mantle of responsibility in carrying the fight for the host country.

"It's now up to him," said the 37-year-old Arcilla, the winningest PCA Open champion with seven titles, of Tierro.

Fil-Am Ruben Gonzales, for his part, teamed up with former Southeast Asian Games gold medallist Sonchat Ratiwatana as the top-seeded tandem waylaid Chinese Taipei's Ho Chih Jen and Hung Jui Chen, 6-3, 6-3.

Gonzales and Ratiwatana face off with Hermida and Shuichi Sekiguchi, who outlasted Arcilla and Kyle Joshua Dandan, 6-4, 3-6, 10-5.

Other singles results saw fancied Benjamin Mitchell of Australia, who outclassed Chinese Taipei's Yu Cheng Yu, 6-3, 6-2, and Chen Ti of Chinese Taipei, who downed compatriot Ho Chih Jen, 6-1, 6-3.

Other quarterfinalists were No. 6 Ivo Klec of Slovakia, a 6-4, 6-1 winner over Canadian qualifier Kelsey Stevenson; No. 3 Shuichi Sekiguchi, who blasted Kittipong Wachieamanawong of Thailand, 6-3, 6-2; and No. 8 Karunuday Singh of India, who trampled Punn Bodhidatta of Thailand, 6-3, 6-4.