Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — Filipino tennis ace Treat Huey has never made it to the semifinals of a grand slam tournament before, but with a blossoming partnership with Slovenian Andreja Klepac, he has managed to scale new heights.
The pair shocked the seeded partnership of Rohan Bopanna and Yung-Jan Chan, 6-2 7-5, in the Australian Open mixed doubles quarterfinals on Wednesday (January 27) in Melbourne.
“It was a close match for sure, we played the big points well in the end,” Huey said in an exclusive interview with CNN Philippines Digital. “We had a little luck and played the big points on her (Klepac) serve well and held the match out on her serve.”
“We’re real happy to be going to the semifinals.”
For Huey, the victory comes on the heels of a stinging defeat in the men’s doubles quarterfinals with his partner Max Mirnyi at the hands of Daniel Nestor and Radek Stepanek last Tuesday (January 26).
Klepac on the other hand saw her women’s doubles campaign end early with a first round exit.
Underdog again
When Huey and Klepac hit the court again on Friday (January 28), they will be going up against the more fancied pairing of Coco Vandeweghe and Horia Tecau.
But Huey doesn’t mind being not being favored.
“It should be a tough match and I know we will be the underdog again, but it is something we have done well in the last two rounds,” said the Filipino ace.
Prior to their meeting with the Huey-Klepac partnership, Vendeweghe and Tecau ousted the second seeded pairing of Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Bob Bryan.
“We’re looking forward to the match, and hopefully we’ll play our game and play well and somehow come up with an upset again.”
Partnership clicking
The pairing of Huey and Klepac is a result of circumstance, with their respective original partners missing out of the tournament due to injury.
“My partner was injured, and the same with her partner,” said Huey. “We decided to play together, and got into the mixed doubles.”
With the partnership making it to the semifinals of the Australian Open, it is safe to say that it has been a good match for both of the players.
“She’s (Klepac) a really good baseliner and she has got a solid serve. She’s been staying at the baseline, while I’m pretty quick and fast to the net,” said the Filipino. “If we use our strengths against their game, we feel like we can beat any of the teams in the draw.”
Only time will tell to see how far Huey and Klepac can take their partnership.
But if things go their way, there could be a grand slam title for them both at the end of the month.
