Patrimonio daughter loses tennis match, but wins MVP dad's heart

MANILA, Philippines - She played with the customary coolness that people were used to seeing in her legendary dad on the hardwood. Now, Christine Patrimonio just needs to polish her end-game skills to get on the elite level in her own hard court. Patrimonio, playing in her first local tournament after training for three years abroad, rammed into an infallible baseline specialist to see her run in the PLDT-Smart International Tennis Federation Circuit Two tournament come to an end Thursday at the Rizal Tennis Court. The 17-year-old daughter of basketball great Alvin Patrimonio was playing in her third match in four days and she failed to sustain the early success she reaped this week. Yumi Nakano of Japan gave Patrimonio all she could handle in her Filipino foe's first foray in a world-class event, playing the baseline game to near perfection in a 7-5, 6-3 victory and cutting short Patrimonio's pursuit of a fairy-tale ending. "I tried to recover but I just couldn't," Patrimonio, teary-eyed, said. It took a while before her dad, who watched the match with an intensity never before seen since his playing days as a pro, joined her in front of a few media people after the game. Coming from the bleachers, the elder Patrimonio sneaked behind his kid, tapped her on the shoulder then took a step back to let the interview with the press continue. The attention belonged to her, not him, he seemed to say. "Enjoy ha," the father advised, appearing to remind his daughter of the value of finding fulfillment in competing and not just in winning. Patrimonio took advantage of a handful of Nakano errors to storm to a 5-3 lead in the first set. But when she got into a rhythm, the Japanese opponent, ranked fourth in the event, made Patrimonio work hard for every shot, launching a barrage of baseline winners that had Patrimonio scrambling all over the court. Nakano broke Patrimonio's serve in the 10th and 12th games, with the first-set clincher coming via backhand passing shot. In the second set, the two held serve in the first six games. Then Nakano amped up her play a notch and broke Patrimonio in the seventh game. Ahead 5-3 and 30-15 in the ninth game, Nakano's drop shot gave her matchpoint before Patrimonio's backhand return went low. "I couldn't hit the way I wanted to. Her shots were always on the rise so I couldn't react as quickly as I wanted," Patrimonio, who started to smile after her dad's consoling tap, said. "It's my first time to qualify in this type of tournament so I'm very happy." Only one person could have been happier. "I'm so amazed to see her play the way she's played," her father, a 17-year veteran on the pro-basketball level, said. "I haven't seen her since she started to train in Spain." "Sayang. She almost made it but I know she'll get back on her feet in time for the next competition," he added. Like her dad, it was hard to get an overtly emotional reaction from Patrimonio - either in the time she was comfortably ahead in the first set or during the stretch when the game was slipping away from her. At one point during Nakano's methodical comeback in the first set, Patrimonio bounced the ball hard off her racket and against a tarpauline ad and yelled at herself. That was as close to a violent fit as she could get. (Besides, remember how her dad reacted to a bad call when he was playing? Yup. He just bounced the ball hard on the floor, bit his lips and shook his head.) Throughout Patrimonio's match, her father was unblinking. He only moved when he had to drink from a bottle of water or when he had to scratch his face. He rarely applauded a good play that his daugher made, but he never hung his head on a bad one either. Patrimonio said she's used to dealing with her dad's unemotional side. "My mom's been more vocal," she admitted. "But my dad's just been quiet," she smiled. A sportswriter admitted that she saw the elder Patrimonio in tears after her daughter's two victories earlier in the week. The last time any veteran sports scribe saw the father cry was when he won his fifth and last PBA championship in 2002. No ifs and buts. This was a special week for the Captain. (And Christine, your dad's just being nervous.) "I'm just focused on her game," her dad said, defending his demeanor. "But more importantly, I was just praying." Nobody who was in the bleachers that day doubted that Patrimonio has the talent to make some noise in the near future. She covers the court well. She has a vicious forehand. She even engaged Nakano in hard-fought baseline rallies. On the cusp of taking the first set, however, Patrimonio's body movement began to change. The shots became tighter, the errors piled up, and her eyes looked less self-assured - universal signs of choking. When asked what areas of the game Patrimonio needed to improve on, it was confirmed. "Handling the pressure," the teen tennister said. Given that the ITF event was her first ever against some legit international opposition and her first in the country after her three-year camp in Spain, Patrimonio doesn't have to fret. All she has to do is play more events and do it regularly to get the right frame of mind and develop the killer's instinct typically seen of champions. But as far as handling the pressure is concerned, does Patrimonio need to look any further than inside her home to find help with that? "The talent is there," her dad said. "So it's up to her how she can improve on her game further and how to not give up." "But at the end of the day, I tell her - just enjoy the game.'" - GMANews.TV