MANILA – The University of the Philippines (UP) overcame defending champions National University (NU), 3-2, in a thrilling showdown on Wednesday, securing its spot atop the UAAP Season 88 men’s tennis leaderboard at Colegio San Agustin in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan.
Andrei Jarata and Carl Tan sealed the win for UP in the second doubles, defeating Miguel Vicencio and Jules Lazaro 6-3, 6-4, marking UP’s ninth victory in 10 outings.
Lance Fernandez started the day strong, dispatching Alexis Acabo 6-3, 6-2, but NU fought back with Andrei Padao defeating Loucas Fernandez 6-4, 6-4, and Isaac Lim overcoming Heinz Carbonilla 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, giving NU a temporary 2-1 lead.
The tie was tied at 2-all when Raymund Goco and Miguel Iglupas triumphed over Angil Balaoing and Christian Padilla, 7-5, 6-3, in the first doubles match.
NU now shares third place with UE at 7-3, while UE dominated Ateneo 5-0. UE players Allyson Cabanilla, JB Aguilar, and Kian Sanchez claimed singles wins, and doubles teams Mark Dave Palanas/Kent Morales and Marc Suson/RJ Baje completed the clean sweep.
Elsewhere, University of Santo Tomas (UST) defeated Adamson University 4-1 to climb to second place with a 9-2 record. UST jumped to a 3-0 lead courtesy of Richard Bautista/Nash Agustines, Ericjay Tangub, and Evan Bacalso. Adamson’s Miecoz Candelasa managed a narrow win, but UST wrapped up the tie with a doubles victory from Steven Sonsona and Al Zayeed Baid.
Adamson fell to 2-9, while Ateneo has yet to claim a win after 11 games.
elamigo/xf
