Redemption for former Filipino tennis standout Patrombon

MANILA, Philippines – Jeson Patrombon returned to the scene of one of his most memorable performances as a rising junior tennis player on Monday, March 24.

But unlike the last time when he played to a packed crowd at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center center court, Patrombon was hardly noticed by the small gallery watching the Olivares Cup qualifying matches early yesterday morning.

Had the tennis fans been more attentive of the court 2 match between Patrombon and Canada’s Andrew Ochotta, who was seeded second in the qualifying event, they would have a caught a glimpse of the form that once made the Filipino the ninth-best junior player in the world.   

Overcoming an 18-month layoff, the hometown bet displayed a heady baseline game and sizzling service in whipping the Canadian 6-1, 6-3 in 55 minutes to enter the main draw of International Tennis Federation Futures event starting on Wednesday, March 26

“Medyo nagbalik na yong palo ko, pero mahirap rin yong Canadian kalaban, lalo na yong kanyang serve (My shots are finally back, but the Canadian is hard to beat, especially because of his strong serve,” noted Patrombon, who only had single double fault in the match.

“He (Patrombon) was surely energetic,” said a dejected Ochotta, ranked 2,177 in the Association Tennis Professional ratings, whose shaky forehand and balky serve, which produced five double faults, proved to be his downfall.

(RELATED: Pinoys endure rough first day at Mitsubishi International Junior Tennis Championships)

A native of Iligan City, Lanao del Norte in Mindanao, the dusky 20-year-old distinctively recalls the last time he set foot on the Rizal Memorial courts three years ago when he was touted as the next biggest thing in local tennis.   

Armed with a No. 9 rating in the ITF junior rankings, he was the top seed in the 2011 Mitsubishi International Junior Tennis Championships and reached the boys singles finals before losing to eventual champion Andrew Whittington of Australia.   

Their respective tennis careers have gone in opposite directions since then.  

Whittington is now a pro ranked No. 384 in the ATP ratings while Patrombon faded from the spotlight in early 2012 when he was dropped by his former coach Manny Tecson and benefactor, ex-lawmaker Romy Jalosjos, reportedly due to a bad attitude.  

“Malaki rin ang nawala sa aking noong mawala yong sponsorship kay Sir Romy. Hopefully, ito na yong simula nang pag-babalik ko (I lost everything when I lost my sponsor, Sir Romy. Hopefully this (win) is a start of my comeback,” said Patrombon, who had a thriving partnership with Tecson with five years before he got sacked.

With generous funding from Jalosjos, Tecson and Patrombon criss-crossed the globe in pursuit of raising the player’s experience and ranking.

“I believe that Jeson was unable to handle the fame he got then which eventually led to our parting of ways,” said Tecson, who was among the handful who witnessed his former protégé play yesterday.  

But Patrombon denied the allegations that he had rigged matches or become swell-headed that eventually led to his falling out of favor with Tecson and Jalosjos.

“Masasabi ko po sa sarili ko na kailanman ay hindi ako nag-patalo ng laro. Magagalit si Lord (I can honestly say to myself that I would never lose a game deliberately. The Lord would get angry,” Patrombon said. “Walang totoo lahat doon (Those reports are not true).”

Coming from a huge brood of four brothers and three sisters, he said that he had become a family breadwinner. With no sponsor, the young player scraped enough money for plane fare to go to Chinese-Taipei and train with his former Taiwanese junior buddies for two weeks before the Olivares Cup.

Patrombon needed to win two qualifying matches to reach the tournament proper where the individual champion takes home $2,000 (roughly P88,000).

But he found his comeback in jeopardy last Sunday in playing against compatriot Kyle Dandan, another player seeking to resurrect his career.   

Down 2-6 in the opening set, Patrombon dug deep into his bag of tennis tricks to subdue Dandan 2-6, 7-6 (6-3), 6-4.

“Ninerbiyos ako kay Kyle kasi matangkad din siya at malakas ang palo (I got nervous against Kyle because he is tall and hits strong),” he recalled of his potential early exit.

“Actually, Jeson’s play against Dandan was actually ‘the match’ after his long layoff,” said Tecson. “Once he got over the first match. The lesson he learned from me became second instinct.”

Definitely more focused and calm than in his previous game, the Patrombon of old was in complete command against Ochotta, racing to a 4-0 lead en route to handily winning the first set.  

Despite being challenged by the Canadian in the second set, the Filipino continued to hit his stride and unleashed his power game, holding Ochotta at 40-love in the third and fifth games to seize a 3-2 lead.

The momentum finally swung Patrombon’s way in the eighth game when Ochotta’s serve crumbled and trailed 15-40, highlighted by two straight double faults.  

Aware this was to be a now-or-never fightback, the Canadian grittily forced deuce at 40-all, but the Pinoy would have the last say in finally breaking his foe’s serve – and resolve – with two consecutive backhand cross court passing shots.

With a 5-3 edge and serving next, Patrombon went for the jugular, reeling off three consecutive service winners before clinching the set and match as Ochotta’sforehand return went long.

 “Idol!” a bespectacled linesman exclaimed as the Pinoy netter quietly left court 2, acknowledging the greeting with slight nod of his head.

After playing in obscurity for more than two years – who knows? – maybe, just, maybe, Patrombon might just make it far to the finals on Sunday on center court where recognition and redemption await. – Rappler.com