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MANILA, Philippines – As late as two years ago, Filipino-Italian tennis player Mark Reyes ached to return to his birth place of Milan, unable to cope with the culture shock of living in the country of his parents.
“The Philippines is so Third World and Italy is well, modern,” rued Reyes, whose father is a chef and mom a nurse who have lived in the Italian fashion mecca for the last 26 years, in his effort to adapt to the local ways and lifestyle.
Reining in his typical fiery Italian temperament and trying to learn Filipino compounded his miserable struggles, he recalled.
But through the patience and advice of former national coach Manny Tecson, who saw his potential in 2009 and made him one of his protégés under the Tennis Academy Foundation of the Philippines, Reyes hung on and stayed.
“I may also have an Italian passport but when I looked at myself in the mirror, mukhang Pilipino pa rin ako,” said a smiling Reyes, with nary an Italian accent, in overcoming his ordeal to blend in.
On the tennis court, the netter rewarded his benefactors in 2013 by winning the men’s singles crown of the POC-PSC Philippine National Games tennis tournament. He capped a fruitful season in extending veteran Johnny Arcilla in three sets in the finals of the Philippine Columbian Association Open last November.
Reyes hopes to build on last year’s successes as he swings into action on Wednesday at the start of the Olivares Cup at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center.
He drew the toughest challenge among the seven Filipinos competing in the $15,000 International Tennis Federation Futures event as he faces Taiwanese second seed Chen Ti, ranked No. 260 in the Association of Tennis Professionals ratings, in opening round of the men’s singles.
“I hope to do well in this tournament and gain ATP points,” said Reyes, 24, whose other ambition is to play for the Philippine Davis Cup team someday.
Former junior star Jurenz Mendoza, who reached the tournament proper after ousting Hong Kong’s Andrew Li Hei Yin 6-2, 7-6 (7-6), 6-3 in the qualifiers yesterday, also drew a strong opponent in the first round as he battles No. 6 seed Ivo Klek, ranked 404th, of Slovakia.
Aiming to sustain his comeback is Jeson Patrombon, who was once ranked ninth in the world junior ratings, when he goes up against Taiwanese Yu Cheng-Yu, currently with a No. 985 ATP rating.
Arcilla meets Thailand’s Chayanon Kaewsuto while Patrick Tierro, a Davis Cup mainstay, takes on Calvin Charles Canlas, who ousted Eric Olivares Jr. 6-4, 6-3 also yesterday in the second round of the qualifying tourney to make it to the tournament proper.
The other Pinoy competing is Vicente Elberto Anasta, who slugs it out with Thai Punn Bodhidatta in the competition where a top of $2,000 (roughly P88,000) is at stake for the singles champion.
The highest rated entry with a No. 245 rating is Australian top seed Benjamin Mitchell, who drew Malaysian Mohammad Assan Merzuki as his first-round assignment.
Fil-Am Ruben Gonzales, who decided to rest a healing left knee in preparation for next week’s Davis Cup tie against Pakistan, is ranked as the No. 1 seed in the doubles together with Thai Sonchat Ratiwatan. They take on the Taiwanese pair of Ho Chi-Jen and Hung Jui-Chen.
“This is an important tournament for us since we are hosting an ITF Futures event for the first time in more than 20 decades,” said PHILTA vice president and tournament director Randy Villanueva. “This is also a good opportunity for our locals to go up against strong foreign players.” – Rappler.com
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