World ranked doubles star Treat Huey combined with Ruben Gonzales to smash the Sri Lanka doubles pair of US-based Harshana Godamanna and Rajeev Rajapakse 6-1, 6-0, 6-1 and give the Philippines a 2-1 lead going into the final day of the Asia-Oceania II Davis Cup tie at the Sri Lanka Lawn Tennis Courts in Colombo on Saturday.
Non-playing captain Roland Kraut decided to replace Johnny Arcilla with Gonzales who helped the Philippines tie the count at 1-1 on opening day when he won the second singles with a rousing 6-3, 6-3, 6-0 win over Dineshkanthan Thangarajah after Patrick John Tierro lost his opening singles match against US-based Sri Lankan lefty Harshana Godamanna to give the hosts an early 1-0 lead at the Sri Lanka Lawn Tennis Courts in Colombo.
Gonzales, the Philippines No.1 singles player was far too good for the Sri Lankan No. 2 and dominated the match with a superb all-round performance and carried that form into the doubles teaming up beautifully with the accomplished Huey.
Gonzales can help seal the tie for the Philippines in what appears to be a mouth-watering showdown withnGodamma, the smooth-serving Sri Lankan lefty who is regarded as one of the top players in Asia and a five-time Sri Lankan national champion who has won 15 of his last 17 singles matches.
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