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Tennis: Huey, Indonesian partner impress in Australian Open doubles opener

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Rosy Mina

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Treat Huey of the Philippines and Christopher Rungkat of Indonesia. Photo courtesy of Christopher Rungkat on Instagram." src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/news/01/19/treat.jpg"/><figcaption>Treat Huey of the Philippines and Christopher Rungkat of Indonesia. <em>Photo courtesy of Christopher Rungkat on Instagram.</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>Wildcards Treat Huey of the Philippines and Christopher Rungkat of Indonesia progressed to the second round of the Australian Open men’s doubles tournament with a smashing 3-6, 7-6(2), 6-2 win over Rohan Bopanna of India and Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France, Wednesday in Melbourne. </p><p>It took Huey and Rungkat an hour and 48 minutes to overcome Bopanna and Roger-Vasselin at Court 5 in Melbourne Park, Victoria. </p><p>In the second round, they will face 16th seeds Andrey Golubev of Kazakhstan and Franko Škugor of Croatia or wildcards Dane Sweeny and Li Tu of Australia. </p><p>Bopanna, the 2017 Monte Carlo Masters doubles winner, and Roger-Vasselin, the 2014 Roland Garros men’s doubles champion, secured the first break of the match for a 3-1 lead. </p><p>A backhand down the line from 2018 Asian Games mixed doubles gold medallist Rungkat brought the next game to deuce, which Bopanna and Roger-Vasselin clinched to extend their lead to 4-1.</p><p>An ace from Southeast Asian Games triple gold medallist Huey finished off a love service game that made him and Rungkat trail at 4-2. Both tandems continued to hold serve until the Indian and French claimed the first set, 6-3, courtesy of a netted forehand from Rungkat.</p><p>The Filipino and Indonesian avoided getting broken in the second set, saving two break points in the 11th game to lead at 6-5. The Indian and French forced a tiebreak, where a Bopanna netted return awarded Huey and Rungkat a crucial mini break to lead at 4-2.</p><p>A return winner from Huey scored another mini break to extend their lead at 5-2. Huey and Rungkat then held serve to clinch the second set, 7-6(2).</p><p>In the deciding set, Huey and Rungkat saved a break point in the second game to level at 1-1. They notched a break in the third game with a forehand winner to have a 2-1 advantage.</p><p>They pulled away with a 3-1 lead after saving a break point, and advanced further to 4-1 after converting their 5th break point opportunity with a forehand winner. An ace from Huey sealed the sixth game, 5-1.</p><p>Bopanna and Roger-Vasselin bounced back in the next game to trail at 5-2 but Huey and Rungkat held their ground, firing a forehand winner to earn two match points and concluding the set with a backhand winner to claim the match, 6-2. </p><p>Huey, the ATP Doubles No. 137 with a career high of No. 18 in 2016, said of his grand slam doubles wildcard on Instagram, &quot;Thank you, Australian Open, for the opportunity.&quot; He was a <a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/07/06/16/fil-am-treat-huey-partner-reach-wimbledon-doubles-semis">Wimbledon men’s doubles semifinalist</a> with Max Mirnyi of Belarus in 2016. </p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/03/11/10/rp-davis-cuppers-get-praise-japanese-netters">FROM THE ARCHIVES: RP Davis Cuppers get praise from Japanese netters</a></li></ul><p>Prior to the Australian Open, the Filipino-American participated in two Australian Summer Set tournaments with Frederik Nielsen of Denmark, reaching the Round of 16 in Adelaide 1 and Adelaide 2. </p><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO:</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7qWuF_wIG9I?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div>

Treat Huey and his Indonesian partner, Christopher Rungkat, progressed to the second round of the Australian Open Men’s Doubles tournament.