Filipino-American tennis player Eric Taino. Photo courtesy of Alan Van Vliet
MANILA – Filipinos are rightly abuzz about rising star Alex Eala, who has been shining on the WTA Tour.
But other Filipino tennis players have also carried the country's flag before Eala's rise to stardom -- including Eric Taino, a Filipino-American who was once ranked as high as 122nd in singles and 52nd in doubles.
Speaking to ABS-CBN News, Taino discussed his career and life on the ATP Tour, reminisced about some of his biggest wins, and his short but sweet stint with the Philippines Davis Cup team.
Taino was born to Filipino parents in Jersey City, New Jersey. His father introduced him to tennis, who used it as a way to spend time with his son whenever he was off duty from work.
"He was working in the evenings in the hospital when I was growing up. During the day he would go to the park to play tennis and so he brought me to the park [too]," Taino said.
Taino first picked up a racket at the age of five and was mainly coached by his dad who played for the love and passion of the game.
"He was new to the sport too so he had an interest and love for the sport too. [We didn't have] a big goal for tennis or like [become pros] or something, but I liked it [so] he gave me the opportunity to keep practicing, keep playing and stay with the sport so I just grew from there," said Taino.
When his talent started to bloom into his teenage years, Taino left New Jersey for Florida to enter the Bradenton Academy in Florida. There, he met fellow Fil-Am and future Philippine National Team partner Cecil Mamiit.
READ: Philippine tennis great Cecil Mamiit has high praise for Alex Eala
After graduating from Bradenton, Taino played for Billy Martin's UCLA Men's Tennis Team in 1995, captaining a Bruins team that was nationally ranked second during his sophomore year.
As a Bruin, Taino started to encounter tougher and more seasoned players, playing future tennis icons such as the Bryan Brothers of Stanford University. He described the college scene as an acid test for juniors looking to go pro.
"You're playing guys who are your age or are a couple years older [in college tennis] so [there are] some things you can get away with in junior tennis but can't in college tennis," the Fil-Am lefty said.
"Whether you play college tennis or you start playing the features circuit, there's sort of another level, a next level that exposes your weaknesses, if you have strengths, it sort of sets how strong are your strengths right now," he added.
Taino decided to leave the college scene to join the ATP tour in 1997. While most professionals prioritized playing singles, Taino found more success as a doubles player.
Even as a junior, Taino's prowess in doubles was evident when he and partner Jimmy Jackson won the 1992 US Open boys' doubles tournament by beating future singles world no. 1 Marcelo Rios and his partner Gabriel Silberstein.
It was also in the doubles scene where Taino won his only ATP Title, when he and partner Max Mirnyi beat Todd Woodbridge and Tom Woodforde in the 1999 Singapore Open.
"Normally people will play singles for as long as they can, then when they feel like they can't make it anymore, then they switch over to doubles but I did it in a different way," Taino said.
"I was doing well in doubles right away so I needed to stay in doubles just to fund my career, just to pay for things. I was making choices based on what I can get out of doubles just to get some money in the bank," he added.
BEATING FEDERER
While most of his success came from playing doubles, Taino also managed to land some huge victories against the best singles players in the world.
One of his notable wins was against a then-18-year old Roger Federer at the qualifiers of 1999 Waldbaum's Hamlet Cup Open in Long Island, USA.
According to Taino, while he did beat the eventual 20-time grand slam champion, he never really considered his victory against the young Swiss maestro to be that much of an upset.
"He was young… His ball had a different movement to it, even when he missed certain forehands or certain shots, I kinda felt lucky that I won. He was a little bit more inconsistent obviously, he found a higher level as he went along," Taino said.
"Playing at that age, you can tell the ball comes off his racket differently, the shots he was able to come up with looked pretty good, he was missing some of them more than normal but you're like if those balls ever go in, you don't see that from most players," he added.
Taino also managed to snatch victories over top 20 players such as former world no. 15 Fernando Gonzalez of Chile and Morocco's Karim Alami who was ranked 20th in the world,
He went on to defeat an older version of French Open champion and former world no. 2 Michael Chang in the 2003 RCA Championships in Indianapolis, Indiana.
"I do remember going on the court against him [Chang] and they were [announcing me to the crowd]... And then they went over and did his, and then [I was like] you can't compare mine [my record to] his," Taino said.
"I was laughing because I'm like, I don't even think I should be on this court with him right now," he added.
TEAM PHILIPPINES
Later in his career in 2005, due to his Filipino lineage, Taino answered the Philippine Tennis Association's call to represent the country in international competition alongside Mamiit.
He was joined by fellow Filipino tennis legends such as Johnny Arcilla, PJ Tierro, and Francis Alcantara throughout his stint with the Philippines.
"It was fun, for sure, to just get welcomed into the court because, you know, that crowd has your back. But it's also very nerve-wracking because I'm not used to this and you don't want to let anyone down," Taino said.
Taino was all praises for his teammates during his stint with the team, highlighting their willingness to learn and just their overall hospitality as teammates.
"It was good to have them on the team, everyone was very welcoming and everyone was excited to have us," the former Philippine national team player said.
"I don't think they saw it as 'you're stepping in on my territory.' They kinda looked at it like 'hey, we want to be good teammates, we want to support you, we're gonna be prepared to play tennis and improve from this'," he added.
During his stint representing the country, Taino and his team managed to promote the country back to Group I of the Asia/Oceania Zone of the Davis Cup in 2007, returning to the position for the first time since 1996.
Taino won three bronze, two silver, and a gold medal in his years of competing in the Southeast Asian Games and also won a lone bronze medal during the 2006 Asian Games.
Taino played his final professional season in 2007 before retiring the following year. He returned to Los Angeles to coach privately and for country clubs around the city.
He and his family currently live in North Carolina where he serves as Director of Rackets for the Country Club of North Carolina.