INCHEON, South Korea – Fil-Am ace Ruben Gonzales Jr. anchored the men's tennis team’s opening day romp in the 17th Asian Games with a sweet sweep of Mongolia in Yeorumul Tennis Court 7 here on Saturday.
Gonzales, who spent eight weeks training in Europe, bucked off a jittery start before trashing Badrakh Munkhbaatar, 6-3, 6-2, in the first singles match.
PJ Tierro clinched the win for Phl with another straight set victory over Erdenbayar Duurenbayar, 6-4, 6-2, as they advanced to the second round against Chinese Taipei on Sunday.
"It just took me a while to get my rhythm but once I got it and moved a little better, I felt real comfortable," Gonzales said after his singles match.
Munkhbaatar broke first, 2-1, but Gonzales quickly figured him out to book the easy win. He later teamed up with ATP campaigner Treat Conrad Huey to put the icing on the sweet sweep with a quick 6-0, 6-0 work of the tandem of Oyunbat Baatar and Sukhjargal Sukhbaatar in the no-bearing doubles match.
The doubles pair, who is seeded in the individual play that will start on Tuesday, turned the third match into a quick practice as they simply overpowered and outclassed their opponents.
"All the three of us got the confidence we needed as we face Chinese Taipei tomorrow (Sunday)," said Huey.
Team Phl will aim to move to the quarterfinal round with a win over Chinese Taipei, which will be led by current world's no. 37 Lu Yen-Hsun, in this knockout-style tournament.
Meanwhile, 20-year-old Fil-German Melissa Katharina Lenhert will make her debut along with Asian Games second timer Denise Dy as the undermanned women's team opens their campaign against host South Korea.
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