LAHORE - Pakistan pride Davis Cupper Samir Iftikhar made his university and the country proud by wining first US Intercollegiate Tennis singles title at 2012 UNM Balloon fiesta Invitational held at Linda Estee Tennis Centre Alberque USA outclassing Luis Ramirez of New Mexico State University (NMSU) in three sets 6-3, 4-6, 6-3. According to information made available here on Tuesday, Samir, who had earlier won three-set nail biter in the semi-final against Luis Ferndez of New Mexico State University (NMSU), had to bring everything out of his armour to win the final set where Ramirez after loosing the first set fought back and won the second set 6-1. The fate of final set hung in balance as both the players held their fought gallantly with long baseline battle till four-game all and Pakistani, displaying superb fitness and passing shots, broke Ramirez and held his serve to win the match at 6-4 with cheers from large home crowd. The UNM will travel to Nevada Vegas for ITA Regional on October 19. National coach Rashid Malik, who also coached Samir, lauded the superb performance of his student and hoped that he would continue winning laurels for the country.Punjab government, which is emphasising importance of education in the youth, must recognise Samir’s achievements in the past and present. Despite playing full time tennis for Pakistan where he is only player of the country who won four ITF World Ranking Junior titles, he did not neglect his studies and achieved A grades (3.75) GPR in the first year at the US University where he is on athletic scholarship. His father Tayyab Iftikhar, who is former Pakistan Davis Cupper, has appealed to Chief Minister Punjab Mian Shahbaz Sharif to help young Samir financially which will surely encourage him to study and play well and earn good name and fame for the country.