The Philippine Davis Cup team. Dyan Castillejo, ABS-CBN News

MANILA — The Philippine men’s national tennis team celebrated triumph in their 2024 Davis Cup promotional playoff clash against Northern Mariana on Saturday.

The Nationals were able to secure Group IV promotion in the tournament after they handed Northern Mariana its first losses in the tilt through the singles and doubles matches.

In the singles bout, Eric Olivarez Jr. dominated Robert Schorr, 6-1, 6-0.

In the doubles match, meanwhile, Robert Gonzales and Francis Alcantara moved past Colin Sinclair and Schor, 7-5, 6-1. On the other hand, Alberto Lim was handed a tough loss by Sinclair, 7-5, 4-6, 1-6 in the second singles match.

After these games, the Filipino squad will be competing in Asia and Oceania's Group IV next year which is currently composed of Cambodia, Iraq, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Qatar, Sri Lanka, and the United Arab Emirates.

The Philippines also went undefeated before Saturday’s games after defeating Macau, Mongolia, and Turkmenistan in the Group Stage.

This was a successful Davis Cup return for the Philippines after a four-year absence due to the Philippine Tennis Association (PTA) facing suspension.

The last time that the country competed in the tourney was in 2020. In March of that year, just before the pandemic, the country’s representative faced Greece in a singles clash and lost, 4-1, in a Group II faceoff.

Meanwhile, the Philippines’ four-year absence meant that they had to go through a series of promotions, thus their games in Group V. — With reports from Dyan Castillejo, ABS-CBN News.