By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
The Philippines kicked off its Davis Cup Asia-Oceania Group IV campaign with a dominant 3-0 sweep of Pacific Oceania on Wednesday, July 16, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Jed Olivarez set the tone for the Filipinos with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Gillian Osmont in the opening singles match. AJ Lim followed up with a gritty performance, rallying from a tight first set to defeat Nickolas Ngodrela, 7-5, 6-1, in the second singles.
Veteran Davis Cup duo and Southeast Asian Games champions Francis Casey Alcantara and Ruben Gonzales capped the sweep with a commanding 7-5, 6-2 win over Brett Baudinet and Maka Ofati in the non-bearing doubles match.
Up next for the PH netters are ties against Kuwait and Qatar in the round-robin format, with the team needing a Top 2 finish in the group to qualify for the promotional playoffs to Group III.
Earlier in the day, Qatar edged Kuwait, 2-1.
Group A includes Malaysia, Kyrgyzstan, Iraq, and Nepal. Malaysia swept Nepal, 3-0, while Kyrgyzstan outlasted Iraq, 2-1.
