PATROMBON

Aside from Francis Casey Alcantara, another Filipino tennis player is hoping to compete in the Australian Open which starts on January 24 in Melbourne.

But while Alcantara, the defending champion in the doubles event with partner Hsieh Cheng-peng of Taiwan, has been accepted in the singles main draw with his world No. 35 ranking, 16-year-old Jeson Patrombon will have to go through the qualifying tourney.

This will be the first time that Patrombon, a product of the Tennis Academy Foundation of the Philippines (TAFP), will be vying for a Grand Slam tournament berth and his coach is optimistic about his chances.

“The objective this year for Jeson is to break in the top 100 by the first or second quarter of the season, then expose him to all Grand Slam tournaments for him to get used to the highest level of competition,” TAFP coach Emmanuel Tecson said.

“Hopefully when the year ends, Jeson’s ranking could be in the top 50,” he added.

Patrombon’s other objective is to earn a slot in the Youth Olympics in Singapore this August and a successful bid in the qualifying and hopefully, in the tournament proper, will boost his bid in the Youth Olympics where Alcantara has already gained a ticket.

Patrombon is currently ranked No. 118 by the ITF – an improvement from his No. 242 ranking last year.

He highlighted his international campaign last year with a quarterfinals finish in the Osaka Mayor’s Cup World Super Juniors, a Grade A tournament similar to the Grand Slam.

Patrombon warms up for the qualifying when he joins Alcantara at the Lo Yang Traralgon International also in Australia, a Grade 1 event where almost all Australian Open-bound participants compete.