After last season’s bridesmaid finish to the University of Santo Tomas, the DLSU Green Tennisters used that defeat as a motivation for this season’s campaign. True enough, their hard work during the off-season is paying off as the revenge-minded Tennisters were able to start the season and the year right by pulling off back-to–back wins.
The hapless University of the East (UE) Tennisters were the first to feel the might of the Green Tennisters as they crushed what resistance the Recto-based squad offered by blasting the Warriors, 5 -0, for their first victory of the season in a match that was held at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center, Jan. 8, which also marked the opening day of the hostilities on the tennis courts.
The following day, fresh from their demolition of the Warriors, the Green-and-White Squad once more duplicated that feat against the University of the Philippines. Again they asserted the dominance as well as their intention of winning the tennis crown as they won in a surprisingly easy 5-0 match.
A chief reason for their strong showing even at the early goings of the tournament were the performances delivered by the newly-minted Tennisters, who this early are looking to follow in the footsteps of Season 72 Rookie of the Year Pemrik Alina. Ernesto Pantua, Michael Basco, and Alberto Villamor all crushed the competition by posting identical results of 6-0 in the individual matches against the Red-and-White Squad.
The team was also able to dominate in the doubles competition as the
tandem of Alina and Ed Amor (6-2, 6-1) along with David De Koenigswarter and Juan Fidel Regis (6-1, 6-0) lorded over the opposition en route to sweeping their matches against the Warriors.
“It’s no surprise that they [Green Tennisters] are doing well this early in the tournament. They made it to the finals last year, but they will be hard-pressed to sustain this kind of momentum and energy down the stretch,” quips a team observer who wishes not to be named.
