ISLAMABAD - Aqeel Khan survived another scare, as he came from behind to beat youngster Huzaifa Abdul Rehman 2-1 in their men’s singles semifinal of the Federal Cup National Ranking Tennis Championship 2020 here at Senator Dilawar Abbas PTF Tennis Complex on Saturday.
In the second semifinal, second seed Muzammil Murtaza routed Muhammad Abid Mushtaq in straight sets.
Aqeel started the first set on a high temp and built 5-3 lead by breaking the third game of his opponent. However, the youngster Huzaifa did not give up, but started to play winners, as he soon levelled the game 5-5. He continued his heroics, retained his serve and broke the 12th game of Aqeel to take the first set 7-5. The second set was also started with passion, as both the players were fighting hard for supremacy. They held their serves and the score went to 3-3, but it was Aqeel, who bounced back in style to take the second set 6-3 by breaking the 2nd, 7th and 9th games of Huzaifa.
In the third and final set, Aqeel took 2-0 lead by breaking the 2nd game of his opponent, who then fought back bravely to level the score at 2-2. However, Aqeel managed to control the game, as he played some brilliant shots to overcome his opponent and take the set 6-4.
In the second semifinal, Muzammil was too strong for former Pakistan number two Abid. However, both the players fought hard and showed their tennis skills, as Muzammil found it very hard to win the set 6-4 in 27 minutes after breaking the 10th game of Abid. The second set was one-sided, as Muzammil simply outclassed Abid with stunning shots and broke the first, third and fifth games of Abid to take the set 6-1 in 20 minutes. Muzammil will face Aqeel in the final.
In the 45+ doubles category, Irfanullah/Israr Gul won the title by beating Hameed-ul-Haq/Mehmood Khan 6-3 and 6-3, while in the men’s doubles final, Shahzad Khan/Muhammad Abid defeated Barkatullah/Ahmed Chaudhry 6-1 and 6-3.