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MASTERS ITF/ATP $25,000 INDIA SATELLITE CIRCUIT
NEW DELHI Patrick John Tierro tried to cut down the bigger and much stronger No.1 Herbert Wiltschnig of Austria to no avail going down 6-1 3-6 6-3 yesterday in the quarter-final of the Masters of the International Tennis Federation/Association Tennis Professional (ITF/ATP) $25,000 Satellite tennis circuit at the RK Khanna Stadium.

"Wiltschnig has the same solid game as SEAGames teammate and ATP tour player Cecil Mamiit except he stands 6-foot-4 rather than just 5-ft-8", said the 6-1 Tierro in an exclusive long distance phone call interview. "Sayang, I was there with him and hitting the ball well until the third set serving 1-2, I double faulted at 40-30 and again during a deuce point. He was really putting pressure on me", continued Tierro who is sponsored by Cebuana Lhuillier sportsman Jean Henri Lhuillier and supported by PHILTA.

After a string of upset victories against higher ranked players, Tierro who trains at the Subic Bay International Tennis Center with Grand Slammer Beeyong Sison, considers his trip a success gaining 6 ATP points to raise his world ranking to No. 903 putting him in a position to qualify for higher level events such as ITF$15,000 Futures and ATP$25,000 Challengers. Meanwhile, win or lose in the next round, 2-leg winner and former ATP no. 171 Wiltschnig already toppped the event gaining 53 ATP points to propel him back to world's top 200.

"The win-loss column is not our concern yet, our goal is to have 20-year-old PJ play 25-30 events this year and next," said Sison basing his development plan for Tierro on a recent ATP study that the peak performance of male tennis players is between ages 24 to 26 years old. "PJ stands for Pacquiao Jr. and we hope to see him throw bigger punches at least 3 years down the road," added Sison referring to national icon boxer Manny Pacquiao.

4th-Leg, MASTERS: Quarterfinals Results
(1)Herbert Wiltschnig (AUT) d. Patrick Tierro (PHI) 6-1 3-6 6-3
Murad Inoyatov (UZB) d. (3)Sarvar Ikramov (UZB) 3-6 6-0 7-6(3)
(4)Federico Torresi (ITA) d. Alexey Kedriouk (KAZ) 6-1 6-4
J. Vishnu Vardhan (IND) d. (5)Manuel Jorquera (ITA) 3-6 6-2 6-4.