ISLAMABAD - Russian Ivan will take on Spanish Riba in the Serena Hotels ITF Futures Tennis Tournament 2017 finals after both the players carved out contrasting victories in the men’s singles semifinals played here at Senator Dilawar Abbas PTF Complex on Friday.
Both the semifinals were exciting to watch as both the players were at their level best. In the first semifinal, top seed Ivan Nedelko breezed past compatriot Kristian Lozan in straight sets. Ivan showed his class to cruise into the final, as third seed was no match for the top seed, who played shots all over the court to overwhelm his opponent.
In the second semifinal, crowd’s favourite Spaniard Pere Riba overcame the resilient Russian Shalva Dzhanashia to progress into the final. After being beaten in the first set, Riba bounced back to clinch the second set in tiebreaker, in which both the players toiled hard. In the third set, the fourth seed was back to his best and easily beat the Russian, who, however, played some excellent shots during the match, especially in the first set but as the match progressed, he seemed exhausted and the Spaniard’s experience paid off in the end. The Spaniard’s friendly gestures have made him a popular figure within a week and the crowd cheered for him during the match.
RESULTS:
MEN’S SINGLES SEMIFINALS: Ivan Nedelko (Rus) beat Kristian Lozan (Rus) 6-2 and 6-3, Pere Riba (Esp) beat Shalva Dzhanashia (Rus) 1-6, 7-6 (2) and 6-3.
LADIES SINGLES QUARTERFINALS: Sara Mahboob beat Aleena Aftab: 6-2, 6-1.
JUNIORS’ SINGLES U-18 Quarterfinals: Nauman Aftab beat Ilham Khan: 6-2, 6-2; Aman Atique beat Hamza Bin Rehan: 6-4, 6-3; M Shoaib beat Ahmad Kamil: 6-0, 6-1; Yousaf Khalil beat Sahibzada M Ali: 6-2, 6-2.
BOYS SINGLES U-14 SEMIFINALS: Nailan Abbas beat Abdul Samad Areejo: 6-3, 6-3.
TODAY’S FIXTURES:
Juniors Singles U-18 Semifinals: Nauman Aftab vs Aman Atique (10:00 am); M Shoaib vs Yousaf Khalil also at 10am; Ladies Singles Semifinals: Sara Mansoor vs Sara Mahboob 12:30 pm; Ushna Sohail vs Mehwish Chishti 12:30pm.