PRESS RELEASE: Gonzales to open Philippines’ bid for Davis Cup title

Members of the Philippine and Chinese-Davis Cup teams who will square off on July 15 - 17 at the Philippine Columbian Association for 2nd round Davis Cup competitions for Group 2 Asia-Oceania.

Fresh from his win in the International Tennis Federation (ITF) tournament in France, Cebuana Lhuillier-Philippines Davis Cupper Ruben Gonzales is set to compete against Chinese-Taipei’s Ti Chen in the opening day of the second round of the Asia/Oceania Zone Group II Davis Cup tournament on July 15, 2016 to be held at Philippine Columbian Association (PCA) courts in Paco, Manila. Francis Casey Alcantara, meanwhile, will face Liang-chi Huang on the same day for the second singles match. 

 Wimbledon doubles finalist Treat Huey and junior standout Jeson Patrombon have been nominated to battle against Jui-Chen Hung and Chieh-fu Wang on Saturday’s crucial doubles match. "I'm very confident about the team’s chances against Chinese Taipei.  Everyone is in excellent shape after competing extensively in international tournaments the past months and have done well.  Treat is coming from a semi-finals in Wimbledon and Ruben just won an ITF Futures tournament in France.  Nino and Jeson have been very active also. Of course, we have the home court and home crowd advantage, as well.  The goal is to move back to group 1 of Asia Oceania Davis Cup competitions and I like our chance of achieving that," said Cebuana Lhuillier-Philippine Davis Cup team manager Jean Henri Lhuillier. 

Philippines and Chinese-Taipei have met in seven encounters previously with the Philippines holding a slim 4-3 advantage but have lost the last three ties. The winner of this second round Davis Cup match will face the winner of the Thailand-Vietnam tiff for the right to move to Group 1 of Asia-Oceania next year.