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Tennis: Ruben Gonzales is Cleveland Open doubles runner-up

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Rosy Mina

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Reese Stalder of the United States and Ruben Gonzales of the Philippines. Photo courtesy of República Dominicana Open 2022 on Facebook." src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/sports/02/05/02052023-tennis.jpg"/><figcaption>Reese Stalder of the United States and Ruben Gonzales of the Philippines. <em>Photo courtesy of República Dominicana Open 2022 on Facebook</em>.</figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA – No. 2 seeds Ruben Gonzales of the Philippines and Reese Stalder of the United States blew their lead in the Cleveland Open doubles final to finish as runners-up of the ATP Challenger Tour event.</p><p>Gonzales and Stalder failed to foil the comeback surge of top seeds Robert Galloway of the US and Hans Hach Verdugo of Mexico, 6-3, 5-7, 6-10, at the Cleveland Racquet Club Center Court in Ohio on Saturday.</p><p>The first set was dominated by Gonzales and Stalder, who claimed a 5-2 lead after winning three consecutive games.</p><p>After their opponents held serve to love, Gonzales and Stalder moved past two break points to clinch the first set, 6-3, after a Gonzales forehand overhead smash yielded a forehand error from the American-Mexican duo.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/11/05/22/tennis-gonzales-wins-yokohama-challenger-doubles-title">READ: Gonzales wins 8th ATP Challenger doubles title in Yokohama</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/08/21/22/gonzales-stalder-conquer-republica-dominicana-open">READ: Gonzales, Stalder conquer Republica Dominicana Open doubles final</a></li></ul><p>Gonzales and Stalder, the 2022 Santo Domingo Challenger champions, carried on in the second set by breaking serve in the opening game and pulling away with a 3-1 edge.</p><p>An ace down the T sealed their love service hold for a 4-2 lead, until Galloway and Hach broke serve to level at 4-4 after Gonzales netted a forehand approach shot.</p><p>Serving at 5-6 in hopes of forcing a tiebreak, the Filipino-American tandem was down by two break points when a Gonzales double fault handed over the second set to Galloway and Hach.</p><p>Gonzales and Stalder bounced back in the 10-point match tiebreak by taking a 3-0 lead via their fifth ace, then advancing to 5-3 through a mini break due to a double fault.</p><p>Galloway and Hach leveled at 5-5 by serving an ace and gaining a mini break from a double fault.</p><p>They proceeded to be on the brink of victory, 9-5, after Gonzales and Stalder let out a netted backhand approach shot.</p><p>After saving the first of four match points, Gonzales and Stalder were halted by a forehand overhead winner by Galloway and Hach, who clinched the Cleveland Open crown, 10-6.</p><p>En route to the final, Gonzales and Stalder saw off Martin Breysach of France and George Goldhoff of the U.S., 7-6(3), 6-1, in the first round.</p><p>They ousted Gabriel Diallo of Canada and Aleksandar Kovacevic of the U.S. in the quarterfinals, 6-2, 6-3, and Jonas Forejtek of Czech Republic and Thai-Son Kwiatkowski of the U.S. in the semifinals, 7-6(6), 7-5. </p><p>Gonzales, the 37-year-old ATP Doubles World No. 140, was gunning for his first title of the season to add to his eight ATP Challenger Tour championships.</p><p>The University of Illinois tennis alum has also won 18 Futures titles as well as the 31st Southeast Asian Games men’s doubles gold medal. </p><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO: </strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-5oxwMIMqE8?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

Ruben Gonzales and Reese Stalder blew their lead in the Cleveland Open doubles final to finish as runners-up of the ATP Challenger Tour event.