ISLAMABAD - Farhan Zaman played superb tennis and squeezed into the Florida State Open 2013 final after brushing aside Johan Bouquet of France 3-1 in hard-fought semifinal at Boca Raton, USA on Saturday.
Talking to The Nation from Florida, Farhan said: “I am delighted the way I played against one of the toughest guys and this victory is very significant for me as Johan has a great exposure of the PSA events having the world's best coaches and trainers, while on the other hand, I have been just depending upon the suggestions of head coach Jamshed Gul and my father Fakhar Zaman as both are in constant touch with me, bucking me up and informing me about the training methods to keep myself fit for the next opponent.”
“In the first game, I had to dig deep to remain in the game for majority of time. Johan was just running away with the game and I was barely following him, but finally I got the momentum going in my favour and started settling down and matching him point to point so after a tough fight, I managed to take the game 14-12,” he said.
“Johan started the second game with a brisk pace and took a healthy lead of 6-2. I then bounced back to reduce the deficit to 5-6, but Johan utilized his vast experience and took the second game 11-7,” he said and added: “In the third game, I started playing aggressively and the strategy worked, though the game was a see saw battle, swinging from one way to another while Johan had taken 9-5 healthy lead yet I first leveled the score 9-9 and then took 10-9 lead. Johan fought back and took 11-10 lead, but that was all he could get in the game as I took next three points in a row to take the game 13-11.”
“I had taken supreme control of the match in the fourth game and never allowed Johan any chance to stage comeback and easily won the game 11-6, thus booked a berth in the finals,” Farhan asserted.
“I will play final against the top seed Mexican guy Alfredo Avila, to whom I had beaten in the previous tournament held in Canada last week. But this time, the situation is change as he has a point to prove against me as he is more than determined to avenge the last event loss to settle the scores, but I have also prepared well. If I play according to my potential and abilities and commit fewer mistakes, I will win the title,” Farhan concluded.