Category: Tennis

PARIS — My daily trips riding the Metro and disembarking on Michel-Ange-Molitor to walk 1,100 meters before entering Stade Roland Garros have come to an end. Here are some thoughts on the only Grand Slam event played on clay:

1) If you want a sampling of the same red clay in Paris, there’s one in Cebu. It’s called CitiGreen Tennis Resort and it’s found in Labangon. Operated by Jade Abangan and her team, which includes the Siso siblings (Niño and Em-Em), the two red-clay courts in CitiGreen resemble RG. Both possess the same color. Both are slippery and have sand at the surface. For those who have yet to visit CitiGreen, you must. What’s better in Cebu than in Paris? CitiGreen is indoor.

2) Yesterday, I focused on the power game in men’s tennis. Boom-boom, bang, smash! It’s all about obliterating that ball as hard as one’s muscles could. Well, that’s true. But you know what tactic I’ve also observed here? Finesse. And nobody employs this one-two, power-and-finesse manuever than the world no. 1 Novak Djokovic. It’s called the drop shot. And on clay, it’s essential. Because players stand so far behind the baseline (because of the looping topspin), the occasional drop shot is essential. Djokovic has been using this surprise often. It has worked.

3) How much money does the champion earn? First, you have to win seven times. From the first round until the Finals, you play seven times. The prize: 1.8 million Euro. Multiplied by P50 to a Euro, that’s P90 million. That’s a lot of pesos. (But compared to Pacman’s earnings in Las Vegas, the RG champ, after two weeks of hard-hitting work, his take-home pay is miniscule.) The men and the women receive the same reward — even though the men play 3 out of 5 and the girls play only 2 out of 3. It’s called equal rights. A rightful decision.

4) Did the French invent the game of tennis? Based on my research, it’s possible that the word “tennis” was derived from “tenez.” That’s a French word for “hold” or “take, receive,” which might mean getting ready before one receives the serve.

5) Roland Garros, now on its 114th edition, is the most difficult tennis tournament to win. All matches are best of five. Many turn into marathons, at times running past four hours. The reason: clay-court tennis is tedious. Unlike Wimbledon’s grass or the US and Australian Opens which have fast hard-court surfaces, clay dampens the ball’s speed. That’s why you’ll see back and forth rallies lasting 24 or more shots. It’s physical. It’s sweat-inducing. It’s the most excruciating tenez event.

6) How expensive are the RG tickets? Surprisingly, they’re not overly pricey. During the first days of the week (the best time to visit a Grand Slam), when all the side courts are filled with top names, an Outside Pass entry costs 30 Euro. That’s about P1,500. Not bad for an 11 a.m.-until-8 p.m. stay. For the Philippe Chatrier (center court) tickets, they go for around 60 Euro in the early days. That’s P3,000. Expensive? Sure. But this is a Grand Slam event. For a once-in-a-lifetime experience, it’s worth saving-up for. Of course, when you go to the later rounds (semis and finals), they’re exorbitant: as high as 948 Euro.

7)  Tennis is an outdoor sport but RG has followed the route of Wimbledon and the Australian Open by their plan to install a retractable roof on their center court. This is expected to be finished in 2019. The weather here is erratic. One hour it’s sunny; the next it’s cloudy and drops of cold rain sprinkle the 19 degrees air. The French Tennis Federation is also adding another show (covered) court, all targeted for completion in four years.

8) What’s the food like here in Paris? Bread, pan, baguette, croissant, Pain au lait. I miss our garlic rice and sinugbang baboy.

9) To help popularize RG, the organizers did an ingenious act: right in the middle of the Eiffel Tower (the most “selfied” place on earth), they hung an illuminated giant tennis ball with the words “Roland Garros.” Merveilleux!

(Andreas Solaro/AFP/Getty Images)

PARIS — Height is might. That age-old adage holds true for basketball, swimming, badminton, volleyball and a long list of other sports.

With tennis, height is a tall advantage. You serve from a higher trajectory. You sprint left and reach that backhand faster. Your long legs assist you in that dash to flick the drop shot. When you stretch for a volley, those added inches help.

The average height of the top men’s tennis pro: around 6-foot-1. That’s the height of Roger and Rafa and Pete Sampras. Novak is an inch taller. Andy Murray stands 6’3”. Marin Cilic, the reigning US Open champion and whom I watched from a few feet away this week, has two Eiffel Tower-like legs. He stands 6’6”.

The other day, a giant of a server slammed 219-kph aces against his French opponent. (Although the crowd reveled in their local player’s win.) That American is John Isner, looming tall at 6-foot-10.

Tennis today is different from tennis in the ‘70s or ‘80s. Ushered in by Boom-Boom himself — 6-foot-2 Boris Becker, who continues to be an attraction here, sitting on the stands as his student Novak Djokovic plays — the game today is all-power.

Gone were the days of Ken Rosewall’s slice backhands or Rod Laver’s chip and charge. In the countless hours that I’ve sat by the sideline to watch the professionals at Roland Garros, they do mostly one thing: smother, destroy, crush and butcher. Their weapon of choice is a tennis racket and their unfortunate target is a yellow ball.

In one of the first matches we saw here, I joined Jasmin and Jana in watching Treat Huey. You know Treat! He’s our top Filipino player who’s traveled from America to Cebu several times for Davis Cup action.

Treat and his partner Scott Lipsky won the first set in men’s doubles. We were ecstatic and hoped for victory. Sadly, they lost the next two sets and bombed-out in the first round. Their opponents, two unknowns from Europe, employed a simple tactic: they mutilated the ball. They must have stood 6-foot-4 tall and they just ravaged their shots.

Kei Nishikori is the exception. The Japanese hits clean and hard, but he’s no physical giant. Compared to the Sam Querreys and Ivo Karlovics, he’s small at 5’10”. Yet, he’s winning. He won in Barcelona a few weeks ago and, thus far, he’s into the fourth round in Paris.

At Court Philippe Chatrier earlier this week, I watched him play a dangerous opponent in Thomas Bellucci. He clobbered him in straight sets.

The 25-year-old Kei is an exceptional talent. Given his small physique, he has terrific hands and amazing eye-to-hand coordination. He doesn’t stand 15 feet from the baseline like Nadal; he stands inside the baseline to pound on his ground-strokes. He hits on the rise. That’s why he’s world No. 5 — possibly the highest-ever ranking for an Asian.

CORIC. The best match I’ve seen here: Borna Coric defeating Tommy Robredo in five sets. They played in Court 2 last Thursday and I was fortunate to sit on the third row. Behind me sat Goran Ivanisevic (who, like Coric, hails from Croatia) and three seats to my left was Thomas Johansson, the former Australian Open champion who now coaches Coric.

This kid is a future champ. His serve reaches 205-kph and I like his two-fisted backhand. He steps forward and, armed with a compact swing, delivers a deadly crosscourt drive.

Only 18, he also defeated Sam Querrey in the first round and, if he wins his upcoming encounter against Jack Sock, he’ll meet Nadal in the fourth round — a titillating contest given that Coric upset the Spaniard last year. Watch out for Coric.

AJ LIM. There’s one other Filipino who’s joining here: Alberto Lim, Jr., one of our bright prospects in PHI tennis. He joined the qualifying round of the junior category in Roland Garros but lost a French player.

AJ is only 16 but he was world-ranked 45 last month in the juniors (he’s now 74.). We hope someday that he’ll be the Kei Nishikori of the Philippines.

PARIS — The French are an expressive and artistic people. This was reflected on the tennis courts at the Stade Roland Garros.

In an “Italy vs. France” contest two afternoons ago, the French thumped their feet on the bleachers surrounding Court 7. They stood with arms punching the air. They screamed “Allez!” They clapped to disrupt the Italian and they clapped to uplift their Frenchman. The Italian was Fabio Fognini, world no. 27. Twice this year, he’s beaten Rafael Nadal and was expected to win the slugfest against Benoit Paire. But, no; the locals wanted Paire, who hails from Avignon, to win. Midway through the match, a fight among the spectators ensued. The details were sketchy but it was possibly a local guy throwing a punch to an Italian adversary.

Paire triumphed in Paris. As Fognini exited the stadium in a huff, I stood two meters away. His face looked desolate. His head was pointed down. Inside the court, a different atmosphere reverberated. Paire was signing autographs. The French spectators wouldn’t let him go. Photos and selfies were snapped. It’s as if he won the French Open!

This scene is duplicated each time a Frenchman plays. The day before, my seatmates Jana, Jasmin and I witnessed the same occurrence. An unknown in the tennis world, Maxime Hamou was treated like a rockstar when he played. His famous countryman, Jo Wilfried-Tsonga, sat on the stands to cheer. The crowd jammed the same Court 7, a mid-size arena. Hamou was losing to Jerzy Janowicz (from Poland) but the French wanted him to claw back from the precipice. They did all the cheering that they could — to no avail.

They booed. Yes. Booing here is normal. While, to us, it would seem too harsh or hostile a welcome to a foreign opponent, here it’s okay. They booed Janowicz. When he questioned a line call and approached the umpire, they booed. When he defeated Hamou, 6-7, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4, they booed. When the two players met at the net to shake hands, they didn’t shake hands — they pulled each other’s hands. Janowicz then pointed a finger to Hamou, gesturing for an apology on an earlier incident. They glared at each other. Hamou booed. The crowd booed. It was crazy and unlike anything I’ve seen.

The French are passionate. They were also winners last Wednesday.

Nicholas Mahut played Ernest Gulbis on Court No. 2. I enjoyed watching this match up-close. Gulbis, who comes from Latvia, was ranked as high as 10 in the world. He was expected to romp into victory against the Frenchman. But again, the crowd roused him to snatch the prize. Mahut won in four sets. Same with no. 12 seed Gilles Simon, winning against Martin Klizan.

Over at Court Suzanne Lenglen (named after an 8-time Grand Slam champion who reigned in the early 1900s), it was another Frenchman: Tsonga. Everybody loves Tsonga — including those who watched him play the International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) in Manila, where he represented the Philippine Mavericks.

Tsonga is forever smiling. He’s a young-looking version of Muhammad Ali who clasps not boxing gloves but a tennis racket. Wearing all-black and looking like Batman on the red clay, he slammed aces and fired crosscourt winners. He was a winner against Dudi Sela.

But nothing beats Gael Monfils. On Court Philippe Chatrier, the 6-foot-4 Monfils was Goliath. He faced a player nine inches shorter in 5-foot-7 Diego Schwartzman. On paper, this was a no-contest. Monfils is the 13th seed while the Argentine lingers at 57.

But in the David vs. Goliath clash, it was the diminutive Argentine who was winning. He won the first set 6-4. Monfils battled back to win the second. In the third, Schwartzman won 6-4. Holding a two sets to one lead, the crowd grew tense. But, energized by the partisan Parisians, Monfils won the next two sets, 6-2, 6-3, punctuating the win with an ace on match point.

“Today I won because I had the crowd behind me,” Monfils said. “They give me, let’s say, some wings.”

(Clive Brunskill/Getty Images Europe)

PARIS — This is the question that lingers in everyone’s minds here.

On his first visit inside Roland-Garros, the 19-year-old triumphed. Every May and June since 2005, he hasn’t lost. The only aberration was in 2009 when he lost in the fourth round to Robin Soderling, the Swede who has since being plagued by injury. In all, that’s 66 matches won in 67 tries.

Rafa has been victorious 9 times and he’s going for that double-digit here in Paris. Can he make it? From what I saw about four rows up on the stands inside the center court, the answer is Yes.

If Floyd Mayweather, Jr. calls MGM Garden his personal garden and if Michael Jordan soared in his airspace called the United Center in Chicago — then Stade Roland Garros is the home away from the Mallorcan home of Rafa.

Court Philippe Chatrier, their center court here, is not massive. I’ve been inside the Arthur Ashe Stadium and that 22,547-seater complex is humongous. While typing this, I’m looking around the rectangular-shaped arena and it’s magnifique. Green seats abound. Glass-enclosed partitions cover the TV booths. Digital screens sit on corners displaying scores. Down below, where, on a full-capacity house, the 14,840 pairs of eyes will focus, is the centerpiece tennis court.

It’s color brown. Officially, it’s “red clay” but, to my brown eyes, they’re brown. What makes this court different is the back-stop. It’s that open space behind the baseline. It’s a huge area — the ideal canvas where Nadal weaves his magic.

I watched Nadal’s match here on a “Super Tuesday.” Why super? Because you’ve got three salivating matches: Nadal first, Novak Djokovic next, followed by Serena Williams.

Rafa played a Frechman named Quentin Halys. The organizers couldn’t have picked (by the luck of draw) a better first-round opponent for the Spaniard. The French here, obviously the majority who watch, are fiercely patriotic. They clap; no, make that they “chant while clapping.” In unison, they all clap like a symphony orchestra to motivate their local guy. Because while they cheered for their adopted Parisian named Rafa, they cheered even louder for Halys. In the end, while the 18-year-old produced his slew of winners, he was no match to Rafa. The score: 6-3, 6-3, 6-4.

Djokovic followed. Wearing an orange shirt by Uniqlo, he looks supremely confident and tall at 6’2”. He should be. He’s been almost undefeated this entire season, including a win at the Australian Open last January. He’s won 8 Grand Slam singles titles but never the French Open. Twice, in 2012 and last year, he reached the final only to be thwarted by Rafa.

Will 2015 be Novak’s year? As much as I’m a confessed Rafa fan — I count Bobby Aboitiz, Frank Malilong, Fabby Borromeo, Ernie Delco, Bobby Lozada, Noy and Amale Jopson, and Fr. Joy Danao in the same camp — I think Rafa will lose next week. He’s ranked a lowly 7 and, by the bad luck of the draw (he himself picked the ball during the Draw Ceremony), he’ll meet Djokovic in the quarterfinals. That will be titanic. It’s sad that the two have to meet so early; but then maybe Rafa will leave in the same stage as he did against Soderling.
I closely watched Novak’s game and while he trailed 2-5 against Jarkko Nieminen, he clawed his way back to win in straight sets. The Serb has no weaknesses. His backhand is better than his forehand. His return of serve is as good as Agassi’s. His mind, that unseen mass that determines a win or loss, is as strong as Lance Armstrong on the bike. Like most here, I’m voting for him to win next Sunday.

Around here, you’ll see tennis greats lingering. Boris Becker occupies his usual spot at the players box. I watched how he took off his red jacket when the weather warmed. Seated four seats away was Novak’s wife, the blonde and beautiful Jelena. She wasn’t interested in her husband. She fiddled away with her phone.

In Rafa’s camp, the Spanish armada was all-present: coach/uncle Toni, Rafa’s parents, and his girlfriend, the beauteous Xisca Perello.

I consider myself lucky. Three times I watched Serena Williams in person, three times she won gold. I’ll never forget the first time. We visited New York and Serena, then 17, won her first Grand Slam singles title. She triumphed in style, beating former major winners Kim Clijsters, Conchita Martinez, Monica Seles, Lindsay Davenport and in the final — which I watched with my dad Bunny and the late Kits Borromeo and his son (and one of my best friends) Fabby — we saw Serena beat Martina Hingis to become only the second African-American female netter to win a major since Althea Gibson in 1958.

That US Open was Serena’s first major. She and her older sister Venus would also win the doubles crown in Flushing Meadows. That was 16 years ago.

Today, she has amassed a cabinet-full of hardware. In singles, she owns six Australian Open trophies, two at the French Open, six at the US Open and five Wimbledon crowns. That’s a total of 19. (By comparison, the men’s leader, Roger Federer, has 17.) In doubles, she has 13; in mixed doubles, she owns two. Her total runs to 34 Grand Slam titles. Yet, as plenty as those accolades are, Serena only ranks seventh in the all-time list of major winners. The top spot belongs to Margaret Court who, back in the 1960s, collected 64 major crowns!

Why this talk on Serena? Because, at the age of 33, she is still as fresh as a high school teenager, excited about competing. Last Sunday, she won the Miami Open, clobbering her final opponent Carla Suarez Navarro, 6-2, 6-0.

Compared to the likes of Maria Sharapova and Ana Ivanovic, Serena is not your typical tennis player — physique-wise. Many of the top players are super slim. They possess long legs that are perfect for the sprints needed for tennis.

Serena is huge. Her legs are massive; so is her upper body and, if you look at her “behind,” they, too, are huge. Serena’s vital statistics are 36D-28-40. For me, the most interesting number is the middle: 28. As hulky as she is, her waistline is miniscule. (By comparison, the vital statistics of Maria Sharapova, who stands 6-foot-1 and weighs 130 lbs., are 34-24-36.)

Nobody is as brawny and heavy-duty as Serena. Does this slow her down? Hardly. Her strengths are two-fold: physical and mental. With those biceps as big as Rafael Nadal’s, she’s able to whip those shots with ferocity. But her strongest weapon is her brain. I saw this at the Beijing Olympics when she and Venus won the doubles gold.

Her mental fortitude was most evident last October during the WTA Championships in Singapore. In one of her round-robin matches, she was humiliated by Simona Halep, losing 6-0, 6-2. I watched that game and it was perplexing. Here was one of tennis’ all-time greats being schooled. That mishap would have devastated others. Minutes after the loss, Serena enters the press conference room. I was seated 15 feet away. Was she crying or in depression? She was disappointed, obviously, but she still retained that smile. I will get better, she told the assembled media. True to her word, in the days that ensued she never lost and soon pocketed her fifth year-ending trophy.

Given how she’s dominated the women, talks have spread of her doing today’s version of “The Battle of the Sexes.” Back in 1973, Billie Jean King battled Bobby Riggs for a $100,000 winner-take-all prize. The loud mouth Riggs, then 55 years old, claimed that he can handily defeat King, 26 years his junior. Billie Jean won, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3.

Can Serena beat, say, a long-retired Andre Agassi or Pete Sampras? I don’t think so. But it would be fun and would generate tremendous publicity, especially for the women’s game.

Is Serena one of the greatest ever? No doubt. She would rank among the Top 5, alongside Margaret Court, Steffi Graf, Martina Navratilova and Billie Jean King.

On prize money, she ranks No.1 as the female player who’s pocketed the most ever: around $66 million. That’s billions of pesos — and about the same amount Pacman will earn in 36 quick minutes.

RJ Abarquez (Photo by Iste Leopoldo/SunStar)

I watched tennis last Saturday. Two men wore identical clothing: Nike shorts, Nike shoes, Nike shirts.

RJ Abarquez battled Janji Soquino in Pardo. The only Nike difference between the two was Janji wore a cap with the “RF” sign while RJ wore his “RF” logo on his shirt. (“RF” stands for Roger Federer.)

The championship match of the Cebu City Men’s Open last Saturday started nearly 5 p.m. The straight-8 match was a titanic, seesaw battle that saw plenty of momentum shifts. What a fight! As evidence of the high quality of tennis that the Cebuano community witnessed, the third point of the match proclaimed it all: a 20-shot rally, backhand against forehand, topspin versus slice, side to side, corner to corner, Janji firing his semi-Western shot as RJ counterpunched with his two-fisted backhand, neither giving any ground, both pounding that yellow fluffy ball with ferocity and might. Abarquez won the first game. Soquino, serving next, won the second. Abarquez would win the next two games for a 3-1 lead before Soquino upped his level to level the match at 3-apiece.

Pardo Tennis Club, sitting at the center of town with its one well-maintained clay court, is one of the most iconic of tennis spots in Cebu. Founded in 1930, it is now 85 years old. The Pardo TC used to have two courts before one was cemented and used as parking space for the adjacent four-storey Pardo Barangay Hall and the Public Market. Right across the tennis court is the Pardo Parish Church.

Fritz Tabura, the former Pardo barangay councilor (and my former coach when I played juniors), is to be credited for Pardo’s sustained longevity. He and his Tabura family, together with the tennis club officers, have maintained not only the court but the tennis excitement in Pardo. This venue is memorable to me. It was here, many summers ago, that I won one of my first tournaments: an All-Students Championship that pitted the best college players of the island. I recall playing Adonis Lominoque in the finals and, in a tight three-setter where I serve-and-volleyed to counter the powerful shots of Adonis, I won the championship trophy.

Last Saturday, the scene was replicated. Hundreds of people crowded the tennis arena: people sat on the upper balcony, dozens watched from the side bleachers while plenty stood at the Skywalk for that unobstructed view.  The street sounds, from car horns to roaring motorcycle engine noises, entertained our ears.

Ernie Delco, the very likable MCWD general manager and huge tennis fan, watched from his upper deck seat behind the baseline. I sat in between my daughter Jana and Dr. Rhoel Dejaño. Fronting us were Iste Sesante and Jade Violeta, sportswriter colleagues.

Pustahanay? Betting? Absolutely. No match will be exciting without it being called, in tennis parlance, “commercial.” From what I overheard, the pot money reached P80,000.

Back to the match: It was entertaining and evenly-matched. On the average, I’d guess that eight to 10 shots per point were hit. That’s a very high standard. Few errors emanated from the Babolat racket of Janji; same few mistakes were hit from the Technifibre racket of RJ. Three-all. Four-all. Five-all. Up until the final games, you’d never know who’d triumph. When Janji broke RJ to take a 5-4 lead, RJ won seven straight points to lead 6-5. The score reached 6-6, 30-all. How close and thrilling can this contest be?

Janji Soquino, who spent years as a top coach in Singapore and Malaysia before returning home last year, had his chances in the 13th game. But the 22-year-old RJ Abarquez was tough. He led 7-6. With the late afternoon lights being replaced by darkness and the clock reaching 6:30 p.m, Soquino started to show signs of fatigue. He double-faulted at 15-all and, at 30-all, he had to push against the wall because cramps bothered his calves. With that lone match point, RJ took advantage of the medical problem to win, 8-6.

Game, set, (outstanding!) match.

Awards Night at the Padgett Place

Archbishop Jose Serofia Palma, the eloquent and always smiling leader of the Cebu archdiocese, stood before the assembled priests last Thursday night and declared these nuggets of sports wisdom: “Tennis brings us together. It keeps us united. The Pope himself exhorted us to go out of our churches and take a break. Let’s be active.”

Bishop Ricardo Baccay of Tuguegarao echoed those words by adding: “Let us be passionate in our service… both in serving in tennis and in serving our parishes. The more active we are physically, the better we’re able to serve.”

One hundred thirty priests representing 19 provinces and 16 dioceses (including five religious congregations and three bishops: Baccay, Precioso Cantillas of Maasin, Leyte, and Antonio Palang of Mindoro) gathered in Cebu City earlier this week to serve.

By “serve,” I mean the movement where you toss a yellow ball, swing your arm backwards to scratch your back, then you slap forward to pounce a shot.

Fr. Fernando Suarez, who celebrated his birthday yesterday, conceptualized this tournament for priests back in the year 2010. After five years in Manila, he decided to change venues and try our city.

Msgr. Ruben Labajo, himself a tennis player, led the 31-priest Cebu contingent in helping organize the tournament. He was assisted by dozens, including Frederick Yap, Wilson Ong, Michael Sy, Zsazsa Sierra, the Tabura family (Fritz, Jun and Freza) and the Siso siblings, Niño and Em-Em. Lito and Fe Barino of Duros Land sponsored the Awards Night at their beautiful skyscraper, The Padgett Place.

During the awarding, Archbishop Palma was gifted with two Technifibre tennis rackets by Fr. Suarez. A former netter who stopped because of his busy schedule, Archbishop Palma told Msgr. Ruben, “Let’s play tennis again.”

That evening when I had the chance to sit beside him, I said: “Archbishop Palma, I only have one child and she’s become a national junior tennis champion. It was you who baptized her (Jana).”

With Archbishop Palma

The 6th Fr. Suarez Cup, which ran from Feb. 3 to 5, saw the priests wearing shorts and not vestments, lifting rackets instead of holding rosary beads. The priests were engaged in all-out battle. Yes, believe me, having watched several intense matches this week, the priests are competitive. (Consider that the first prize includes both a Norkis motorcycle and a trip to Poland to represent the nation in the all-priests international tournament.)

Fr. Jose Dosado, a good friend from the former Sancase Tennis Club, won the 56-and-above singles category. In doubles, Fr. Arnel Haber teamed up with Fr. Jerry Pascual to win the doubles crown; they come from Tagum.

The indefatigable Fr. Suarez, whose stamina has amazed his tennis friends (once, he played 12 consecutive sets of tennis), won the 46-55 singles category.

Why, I asked Fr. ‘Do Suarez, do you like the game of tennis?

Ever the inspiration (and healer) to so many, he recited the ABCs.

“A” stands for “Ace.” In tennis, like in life, you serve and “don’t expect anything in return.”

“B” stands for “Be Grounded.”

“C” is “Consistency.” I’ve been privileged to recently play four sets of tennis with Fr. Fernando (we partnered in one and played against each other in three — him winning all four doubles sets) and he’s like a wall; returning shot after shot with his two-handed forehands and backhands. Same with life, it’s essential for us to be steady.

“D” is “Do Not Underestimate Your Opponent” (for tennis) and “Do Not Judge Others” (in life).

With “E,” it’s simply to “Enjoy.”

Fr. Suarez imparted one final message to us three nights ago: He once had a problem with his tennis serve and so he asked his good friend Roland So, a former Davis Cup star, for a tip. Roland’s answer was perfect: ‘Bend your knees.’

In tennis, the more we bend our knees, the better our service; in life, we ought to do the same: bend our knees to be humble and bend our knees in prayer to God.

It’s a first. For the first five years, it was held in Manila. Now, it’s here in Cebu. I’m talking of the national tennis tournament for priests that’s called the Fr. Suarez Cup.

Over 100 priests from all over the nation are here in our shores to swat forehands, to exchange volleys, to serve. Yes, these clergymen not only serve their parishes but also serve the tennis ball.

Fr. Fernando Suarez, known all over the world as a healing priest who has healed hundreds, if not thousands, founded this event in 2010. From an initial 50+ participants, it has grown three-fold.

The three-day tournament started last Tuesday with a mass at 11 a.m. officiated by Bishop Ricardo Baccay of Tuguegarao. In his inspiring homily — the first time I’ve heard mass where majority of the attendees were priests — he exhorted all “to be active.” Bishop Baccay said that for the priests to be energized and ready to serve, they have to be physically active. Tennis, the sport involving service, is an ideal sport for real-life service.

The event is divided into singles and doubles categories. For the singles play, there are three groups: 45 years old and under, 46 to 55, and 56 and older. Doubles is open to all age brackets.

Together with several from Cebu (Mike Sy, Wilson Ong, Fritz Tabura, Nino Siso and more), we’ve helped organize the event. The challenge is how to accommodate over 100 players in all categories in three short days. We had to pick five venues: Alta Vista, Citigreen, Talisay Tennis Club, La Paloma and Pardo Tennis Club.

The Fr. Suarez Cup is exciting not only because the priests are able to enjoy the sport they love; they’re also able to mingle with fellow netters who come from Mindoro, Bicol, Manila, Bacolod, Maasin, Cagayan de Oro and several more cities. Plus, the prizes are good: a trip to Rome and a brand-new motorcycle for the winners. And, the chance to represent the country in the international for-priests-only tournament in Poland later this year.

I got the chance to play with Fr. Suarez himself the past week and he’s a Class A player who’ll be tough to beat, especially in singles. The event finishes today with the final matches in Alta Vista and Citigreen; it culminates with mass and dinner tonight at The
Padgett Place.

Tennis was introduced to him by his dad Doroteo Salazar and mom Zenaida. “I was 13 then,” recalls Edwin, whose first backhands were hit at the court “in the Reclamation Area near the old White Gold.” But it was at the Casino Español where, almost nightly, he would smother those Rafael Nadal-like topspin forehands.

Edwin Salazar is now Australian. A top engineer whose family owns the Salazar Colleges of Science And Institute of Technology (SCSIT) here in Cebu, Edwin has relocated to Australia since 2007.

He and his family reside in the City of Gold Coast, Queensland. “This is the equivalent of Boracay – a tourist destination,” said Edwin, who works as Senior Drainage Asset Engineer for the city, leading a team of engineers managing the city’s $4 billion flood mitigation and drainage assets. “All flooding concerns from residents, businesses, councilors & even the mayor come to my section,” he said. “When not at my normal job, I assist (wife) Pipin run The Filipino Shop — a specialty shop that does international money remittance, sea and air cargo, beauty products and Filipino groceries.” Edwin says that his three kids (Paolo, Urick & Wren) now call Australia as home while he, a Cebuano by heart, still considers Cebu City as “my home.”

While Edwin has been in and out of Australia since 1991 (he studied his MBA in Bond Univ.), he has never watched the Australian Open, opting for the nearby Brisbane Open the past four years. A tennis fanatic who owns a wicked topspin forehand, Edwin finally made the trip to Melbourne this week.

“I was watching the Brisbane Open the other week so the expectation was building up,” he said. “The things that you see, hear and experience builds up the atmosphere. As I was heading to the hotel from the airport, you see banners about the Aus Open along the streets. As you head to the venue, the City of Melbourne offers free tram, train and bus rides to the venue. You see posters and banners of products/services endorsed by Federer, Novak, Nadal and the fastest server in the world, who is Australian. The atmosphere is like the days leading to a Palarong Pambansa.”

Engr. Salazar watched two days. “I wanted to experience the day the gates are opened. So at 9am on Opening Day, I was there with about 50 people. By 10am, the crowd at the gates swelled to 5 thousand. There was a record attendance of over 71,000 just on the first day. I watched for 14 hours — the longest I did in my life; from 10am to 12am.” The next day, he did another marathon tennis sitting, watching from 12 noon until 10 p.m.

“I got overwhelmed seeing Federer, Nadal, Novak, Serena Williams, Kournikova, Sharapova, Wawrinka and many more,” said Edwin. “In the outside show courts, I was seated beside the coaching team of Richard Gasquet while watching him play.”

Rod Laver Arena is the tournament’s center court. Inside, said Edwin, “the atmosphere is nice to experience especially if an Australian is playing. Lahi gyud ug local boy ang nag duwa. The fanatics, a group of 20-25, have a repertoire of cheers that can pump up the player and the crowd. This group creates the atmosphere. They cheer, dance, wear nationalistic costumes. See my selfie with them. This was experienced during Hewitt vs. Zhang. Also, the human wave. But have you seen the slow motion human wave? I experienced that in the Hewitt game.”

Edwin longed to take an autograph with a top player. “While having my burger for lunch Tuesday noon, Yvonne Golangong, one of Australia’s greats, was having a meeting in the next table. Yvonne was the only legend I could get close to.”

Forever a Bisaya, Edwin talked about food. “There were stalls all over serving pizza, burgers, fish and chips, and ice cream,” he said. “Problem is I have a Filipino tongue. So I did not enjoy the food much. I would rather go for barbeque, tinola or sinugba.”

Next month when his school, SCSIT, celebrates its Founders Day (57th, if I’m not mistaken), Edwin will come home to play tennis and to savor the food that not even Melbourne can offer.