By Jean Malanum
MANILA – University of the Philippines (UP) clobbered Ateneo de Manila University, 4-1, Saturday to remain unbeaten in the UAAP Season 88 men’s tennis tournament at Colegio San Agustin hardcourt in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan.
The Fighting Maroons raced to a 3-0 lead when Andrei Jarata waylaid Gab Quintana, 6-0, 6-1; Loucas Fernandez demolished Lukas Yupangco, 6-1, 6-0; and Carl Tan and Stephen Catipon whipped JB Cuarto and JC Pabillore 6-2, 6-1.
Ateneo’s JD Velez beat Miguel Iglupas, 6-1, 7-5, before UP’s Raymund Goco and Lance Fernandez conquered Vito Singson and Gabby Calilung, 6-1, 6-1, to wrap up the best-of-five tie.
UP joined idle University of the East on top at 3-0.
“My constant reminder to them is only short-term memory. Grind it out today, then the next day, forget about what happened in the previous matches. So every day’s a new day,” UP coach Jacob Lagman said.
“I’m more concerned about their recovery, so as long as they’re fresh and healthy, I think our players can perform to their maximum potential, so I’m emphasizing more on that … not much pressure on them so they can play their best.”
In other results, defending champion National University (NU) prevailed over De La Salle University, 4-1, while University of Santo Tomas (UST) pummeled Adamson University, 5-0.
NU and UST improved to 2-1, while La Salle and Adamson fell to 1-3.
In the women’s division, defending champion UST drubbed Ateneo, 4-1.
De La Salle survived NU, 3-2, climbing to second place at 2-1 behind idle UP (3-0).
NU and UST are tied for third at 1-1.
“Our mindset is just to fight and of course, we know that our opponents also want to regain the championship. We will fight and fight to defend our championship. Now, I see that we are a little lacking in play, but we are still fighting,” UST’s Kaye Ann Emana, the reigning Most Valuable Player, said. (PNA)
