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Tennis: Ruben Gonzales, Evan King bow out in doubles semis of Mexican Challenger

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Rosy Mina

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Evan King of the United States and Ruben Gonzales of the Philippines. San Luis Open website." src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/sports/04/09/20230409-ruben.jpg"/><figcaption>Evan King of the United States and Ruben Gonzales of the Philippines. <em>San Luis Open website.</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA – Top seeds Ruben Gonzales of the Philippines and Evan King of the United States narrowly missed out on reaching the San Luis Open doubles final on the ATP Challenger Tour, Saturday in Mexico.</p><p>They were outlasted in the semifinals by Benjamin Lock of Zimbabwe and Rubin Statham of New Zealand, 7-6(5), 6-7(9), 12-14, at the outdoor clay court of Club Deportivo Potosino in San Luis Potosí.</p><p>The tight doubles duel, which lasted two hours and 13 minutes, had no service breaks.</p><p>Gonzales and King, who did not give their opponents a chance to break, saved a total of six break point opportunities. </p><p>Yet, they were unable to convert five match points – three in the second-set decider and two in the 10-point match tiebreak.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/02/19/23/tennis-gonzales-posts-doubles-runner-up-finish-in-bahrain">Tennis: Ruben Gonzales posts doubles runner-up finish in Bahrain</a></li></ul><p>In the first set, Gonzales and King saved a break point in the third game and four break points in the seventh game before figuring in a tiebreak.</p><p>Two mini breaks and four holds later, the Filipino-American duo held serve to take the opening set, 7-6(5).</p><p>The teams had easier service holds in the following set, except for the eighth game where Gonzales and King dodged a break point to equalize at 4-4.</p><p>They advanced to 6-6 for another decider, and Gonzales and King secured a mini break in the fifth point, zoomed to 5-2, and earned two match points at 6-4.</p><p>They gained another match point at 8-7, but Lock and Statham persisted until they earned their third set point through their foes’ double fault. </p><p>Lock and Statham then held serve, 7-6(9), to force a super tiebreak.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/02/11/23/tennis-ruben-gonzales-ousted-in-tenerife-challenger-doubles-semis">Tennis: Ruben Gonzales ousted in Tenerife Challenger doubles semis</a></li></ul><p>Thanks to double faults, Gonzales and King scored mini breaks to lead at 5-2 and 7-3.</p><p>They had two more chances to win the match at 9-8 and 11-10, but Lock and Statham fought on to gain match points at 10-9 and 12-11.</p><p>A Gonzales-King double fault gave Lock and Statham their third match point, and they punched a ticket to the final by holding serve, 14-12.</p><p>Several hours later, Colin Sinclair of Northern Mariana Islands and Adam Walton of Australia claimed the championship, 5-7, 6-3, 10-5. </p><p>Gonzales and King had easier victories earlier in the week over Alexis Galarneau of Canada and Alex Lawson of the US in the first round, 6-2, 6-3, and Jason Jung of Chinese Taipei and Rio Noguchi of Japan in the quarterfinals, 6-4, 7-6(5).</p><p>Prior to competing at the San Luis Open, the 37-year-old Gonzales partnered with various aces to post first-round results in Mexico City and Monterrey, plus quarterfinal finishes in the Chilean cities of Viña del Mar and Santiago.</p><p>The 31st Southeast Asian Games men’s doubles gold medalist teamed up with American Reese Stalder for a second-round result in the qualifiers of the 2023 Mexican Open in Acapulco, an ATP 500 event.</p><p>Gonzales, the ATP Doubles World No. 119 and eight-time Challenger doubles winner, reached a career-best ranking of 116th in March following his runner-up finishes in Bahrain and Cleveland, and semifinal result in Tenerife.</p><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/d78fZIKnYT4?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><div><br/> </div>

Ruben Gonzales and Evan King narrowly missed out on reaching the San Luis Open doubles final on the ATP Challenger Tour, Saturday in Mexico.