THE ATENEO Blue Eagles end their remarkable stint in the UAAP Season 86 Men’s Tennis Tournament with silver hardware despite their 1-3 loss to the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Male Tennisters. The third installment of the best-of-three Finals series was held earlier today at the Felicisimo Ampon Tennis Center-Rizal Memorial Sports Complex in the City of Manila.
This marks the second-straight year that the Blue Eagles end their journey on the podium, once again as valiant silver medalists.
Fresh from their victory yesterday, Noy Seno kicked off the rubber match for the Blue and White in the first singles match against UST’s Christopher Sonsona.
The Blue Eagle made quick work of his adversary from España in the first set, 6-1. The frame included a dominant sweep by Seno en route to his second point, as he then took four straight points right after Sonsona answered in the third.
Seno would assert his mastery over Sonsona, wiping the floor with a clean sweep to take the second set, 6-0, and give Ateneo a 1-0 advantage in team-tie.
However, it was a different story for the Blue Eagles in the first doubles match. The Atenean duo of co-captain Nio Tria and newly-crowned Rookie of the Year Axl Gonzaga struggled against UST’s Steven Sonsona and Nilo Ledama.
The pair from Katipunan suffered a straight-sets defeat, 2-6, 1-6, as the Male Tennisters got on the board, 1-1.
Meanwhile, Austin Delos Santos squared off against Ericjay Tangub in the second singles match. Similar to Ateneo’s previous doubles match, Delos Santos was swept by Tangub, but not without putting up a fight.
Going down 0-1 after a 1-6 first set, Delos Santos came back with a 4-1 start to the second frame. However, Tangub quickly answered with five straight points to clinch the match for UST, 6-4.
Now down by one match, the Loyola Heights-based pair of JJ Llavore and Stef Gurria were tasked with keeping Ateneo’s title hopes alive. In their second doubles match versus Richard Bautista and Nash Agustines, the Blue and White were in for a dogfight.
On the opposing court, rookie JD Velez faced Sebastian Santos in the third singles match. With both matches deciding Ateneo’s fate playing at the same time, all eyes were glued on these final matches.
Blue Eagles Llavore and Gurria put up a valiant effort in the first set, leading 2-1, before Bautista and Agustines rallied back to take a 6-4 set victory.
Meanwhile, Velez proved his worth in his biggest game by thumping Santos in the first set, 6-3. However, in the following set, with one point away from securing the win at 5-5, their match was halted with the conclusion of the final doubles match.
In this doubles match, Llavore and Gurria were unable to subdue UST’s powerful attacks in the second set, as the Bautista-Agustines duo clinched the final point for the Male Tennister’s back-to-back crown, 3-6.
Following the conclusion of his career in the UAAP, graduating co-captain JJ Llavore wishes that their consecutive podium finishes will be a testament to the culture that the team has created over the years, sharing “Like what we always say, we won’t go home without a fight, and we will not make their lives easier on the court.”
“With new teammates coming in, old teammates graduating, we built a culture here of really wanting to win and not settling for less, that’s what I expect from them [to continue] next season,” Llavore said.
Team-tie score:
Ateneo-UST: 1-3
Results:
First Singles: Seno (Ateneo) def. C. Sonsona (UST) – 6-1, 6-0
First Doubles: S. Sonsona / Ledama (UST) def. Tria / Gonzaga (Ateneo) – 2-6, 1-6
Second Singles: Tangub (UST) def. Delos Santos (Ateneo) – 1-6, 4-6Second Doubles: Llavore / Gurria (Ateneo) def. Bautista / Agustines (UST) – 4-6, 3-6
