Gonzales, partner finish second in China tennis tourney

FILIPINO tennis star Ruben Gonzales and his Colombian partner finished runners-up in the men’s doubles of the Nanchang Challenger in China last week.

Gonzales and Nicolas Barrientos made inroads into the tough draw with a 6-3, 6-3 upset of top seeds Sergey Betov of Belarus and Denys Molchanov of Ukraine in the quarterfinals.

They marched into the finals after downing India’s Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan and Israel’s Amir Weintraub, 7-5, 2-6, (10-4) in the semifinals.

But their run was halted by hometown bets Wu Di and Zhang Zhizen who beat them, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3, in the final.

Gonzales, now ranked 250th in the world in doubles, has won three titles this year, the last one in August in Italy with Romanian Catalin Gard as partner.

Before that, he made the finals with Barrientos in the Gumcheon Challenger in Korea, and with American Connor Smith in the Netherlands F1 Futures.

Earlier this year, Gonzales teamed up with Darian King of Barbados to rule the Mexico F2 Futures last May, and France F13 with Gard last July. Marc Anthony Reyes