ISLAMABAD - Youngster Muzammil Murtaza upset second seed M Abid Mushtaq 2-1 in the 31st Federal Cup National Ranking Tennis Championship 2017 men’s singles semifinals played here at Senator Dilawar Abbas PTF Tennis Complex on Friday.
Muzammil Murtaza played superb tennis to beat M Abid 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-1. The first set started on electrifying pace, as both the players wanted to put each other under pressure. Abid then settled down and gathered some significant points, but Muzammil then bounced back well to take first set 6-4 in 55 minutes.
The second set also started in same pace, as both the players displayed quality tennis and kept each other on the run. They managed to hold onto their serves and it was 6-6 after almost an hour of sensational tennis on offer. The crowd remained clued to their seats and there was hardly any dull moment in the match. Lady luck favoured Abid, who won the set 7-6 (5), as Muzammil committed two mistakes, which cost him dearly. After two long sets, Abid simply ran out of steam and was nowhere near to what he had offered in the previous two sets. Muzammil was in sublime form and was hitting winners and outpaced Abid to win the third and deciding set 6-1 in just 25 minutes. In another semifinal, veteran Aqeel Khan routed Davis Cupper Shahzad Khan 6-2, 6-4 to set final clash against upcoming star Muzammil Murtaza.
In ladies singles semifinals, Sarah Mehboob outclassed top seed Sara Mansoor in three-set thriller 7-6(5), 2-6, 6-4. Sarah took the first set 7-6 (5) on tiebreak, while she lost the second set 2-6, before bouncing back to take the decisive set 6-4 to set up final date with Ushna Suhail, who thrashed Noor Malik, daughter of former Davis Cupper Rashid Malik, 6-0, 6-2.
he ladies singles final will be played today (Saturday) at 9:30am.
Top seed Muhammad Yousaf from Peshawar and 2nd seed M Shoaib also from Peshawar entered the -18 singles final. Nalain Abbas and Haseesh Kumar from Karachi moved into the boys U-14 finals. Unseeded Haseesh Kumar eliminated 2nd seed Sami Zeb of Islamabad 7-5, 7-5 while top seed Nalain Abbas torucned Sameer Ahmed of Lahore 6-3, 6-2. Hamza Roman and Jamal Shah moved into the boys & girls U-10 singles final.
UK offic
