San jose del monte: University of the Philippines (UP) clobbered Ateneo de Manila University, 4-1, on Saturday to remain unbeaten in the UAAP Season 88 men's tennis tournament at Colegio San Agustin hardcourt in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan. The Fighting Maroons raced to a 3-0 lead when Andrei Jarata waylaid Gab Quintana, 6-0, 6-1; Loucas Fernandez demolished Lukas Yupangco, 6-1, 6-0; and Carl Tan and Stephen Catipon whipped JB Cuarto and JC Pabillore 6-2, 6-1.
According to Philippines News Agency, Ateneo's JD Velez beat Miguel Iglupas, 6-1, 7-5, before UP's Raymund Goco and Lance Fernandez conquered Vito Singson and Gabby Calilung, 6-1, 6-1, to wrap up the best-of-five tie. UP joined idle University of the East on top at 3-0. UP coach Jacob Lagman emphasized the importance of recovery and maintaining a fresh approach. "My constant reminder to them is only short-term memory. Grind it out today, then the next day, forget about what happened in the previous matches. So every day's a new day," Lagman said.
In other results, defending champion National University (NU) prevailed over De La Salle University, 4-1, while University of Santo Tomas (UST) pummeled Adamson University, 5-0. NU and UST improved to 2-1, while La Salle and Adamson fell to 1-3. In the women's division, defending champion UST drubbed Ateneo, 4-1, and De La Salle survived NU, 3-2, climbing to second place at 2-1 behind idle UP (3-0). NU and UST are tied for third at 1-1.
"Our mindset is just to fight and of course, we know that our opponents also want to regain the championship. We will fight and fight to defend our championship. Now, I see that we are a little lacking in play, but we are still fighting," UST's Kaye Ann Emana, the reigning Most Valuable Player, said.