Fil-Am Conrad Huey loses Davis Cup debut

MANILA, Philippines – Hong Kong’s top ranked netter Martin Sayer lived up to his billing with a 6-4, 7-6 (0), 6-2 win over Filipino-American Treat Conrad Huey in the opening singles in the Davis Cup Asia Oceania Zone Group II tie Friday at the Victoria Park in Hong Kong. The 21-year old Sayer, who has been playing for Hong Kong since 2005, made use of his vast experience and familiarity of the hard court to give the home team its first win in this best-of-five series. RP’s number one player Cecil Mamiit will seek to level the score as he is still playing Hong Kong’s number two seed Hiu Tung Yu as of posting time. The 23-year old Huey, who is ranked 1,280 by the ATP, is playing in his first Davis Cup tournament. He committed a number of unforced errors mainly due to pressure. Sayer thus improved his Davis Cup singles record to 5-0 and now has 11 wins in 12 matches. “The opponent really played well," said Philippine Tennis Association (Philta) Davis Cup coordinator Randy Villanueva. “He missed a lot of opportunities in the first and second sets. But his first game will help him loosen up and play better in the doubles." The doubles match will be played Saturday at 2:00 p.m. with Mamiit and Huey tasked to play for the Philippines against Yu and Michael Lai. On Sunday, the reversed singles will be held with Mamiit facing Sayer and Huey taking on Yu. Nominated players however can be replaced an hour before the match. The winner in this tie will advance to the semifinals against the winner of the Pakistan- Oman match set from July 10 to 12. The Philippines has not lost to Hong Kong in five previous meetings and the last time the two countries competed against each other was in 2004 at the Ynares Tennis Center in Pasig City. The nationals then represented by Johnny Arcilla, Joseph Victorino, Adelo Abadia and Patrick John Tierro, who was then a rookie, scored a 4-1 win over Hong Kong made up of Yu, John Hui, Asif Ismail and Michael Brown. – GMANews.TV