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MANILA, Philippines – Treat Huey, without much fanfare, announced his retirement from professional tennis after playing his last match last July 30 in the qualifiers of the ATP Citi Open.
Huey, though, deserves more than just a quiet send-off. He is one of the most accomplished Filipinos in the modern era of tennis, and at his peak, he was one of the top doubles players in the world.
“So fortunate to end my professional tennis career,” Huey simply posted in his social media account.
Huey’s best season on the professional tour was in 2016 when he reached a career-high world doubles ranking of 18th in the world.
That same year, he and partner Max Mirnyi of Belarus made the quarterfinals of the Australian Open. Less than a month later, Huey and Mirnyi emerged champions of the ATP Mexican Open.
The pair followed it up by reaching the third round of the French Open. They had an even better run in Wimbledon where they made the semifinals, losing in five thrilling sets to eventual champions Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut of France.
It was also in 2016 when Huey teamed up with Andreja Klepač of Slovenia in the mixed doubles competition of the Australian Open, where the duo had a semifinal finish.
Huey made further history that year by becoming the first Filipino to quality for the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals, largely considered the most significant tennis event in the ATP tour after the four majors. The ATP World Tour Finals is reserved for the top eight singles players and top eight doubles teams of the season.
Huey is only the second Filipino to win a men’s doubles title in the ATP Tour after Eric Taino who bagged the Singapore Open in 1999 with Mirnyi as his partner.
Aside from the 2016 Mexican Open, Huey also won the doubles title in seven other ATP tournaments.
One of his most successful partnerships was with Great Britain’s Dominic Inglot, who was his teammate in college. They were the champions of 2012 Citi Open in Washinton DC, the 2013 Swiss Indoors in Basel, Switzerland, and the 2014 Aegon International in Eastbourne, United Kingdom.
In 2015, Huey also won three ATP titles. These were the Estoril Open in Portugal with American Scott Lipsky and the St. Petersburg Open in Russia and the Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur with Finland’s Henri Kontinen.
The 37-year-old Huey’s last title in the ATP Tour was the 2017 Los Cabos Open in Mexico which he won with former world doubles No. 1 Juan Sebastian Cabal of Columbia.
Huey, who played US NCAA Division I tennis for the University of Virginia where he was a four-time All-Atlantic Coast Conference selection and the 2008 ACC Tournament MVP, began suiting up for the Philippine team in 2009 when he played a key role in the Philippines’ promotion to Group I in the Davis Cup.
He saw action in singles and doubles in the country’s 4-1 hammering of Hong Kong and in the 3-2 triumph over Pakistan. In the Group II finals against New Zealand, Huey won his singles match then teamed up with Cecil Mamiit to win the doubles match in straight sets, helping the Filipino defeat the favored Kiwis, 4 matches to 1.
In the 2009 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Vientiane, Laos, Huey was a multiple medal winner. He earned his first ever gold medal in the men’s team event, while also bringing home silver medals in men’s singles, where he lost in the finals to Mamiit, and in men’s doubles, where he and Mamiit were beaten by the legendary Ratiwatana twins of Thailand. In the mixed doubles, Huey and Riza Zalameda pocketed bronze medals.
After three silver-medal finishes in the SEA Games men’s doubles, Huey finally struck gold in 2021. He and Ruben Gonzales downed compatriots Francis Casey Alcantara and Jeson Patrombon in a rematch of the finals of the previous edition of the biennial games.
In the 2022 SEA Games, Huey picked up a bronze with rising teen star Alex Eala in the mixed doubles events. The No. 2 pair yielded to the third-seeded Thai duo of Pruchya Isaro and Patcharin Cheapchandej, 6-3, 3-6, 4-10, in the semifinals in Vietnam.
It was the second bronze medal for both Huey and Eala at the Hanoi SEA Games as they also reached the semifinals of the men and women’s team events.
That would turn out to be Huey’s last time to banner the Philippine flag in an international competition.
Turning 38 on August 28, Huey will not be totally walking away from the game, though. He will be going back to his alma mater, the University of Virginia, where he will serve as an assistant coach. – Rappler.com
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