Dubai: Malta's Matthew Asciak stunned top seeded Vaja Uzakov in the quarterfinals of the boy's competition at the 5th Dubai ITF Junior Tennis Championships at the Dubai Country Club last night.
The unheralded Asciak put up a gallant fight to secure a smooth 7-6 (6), 6-3 win over the top seed from Uzbekistan to set a meeting against Hungary's Krisztian, who had the smoothest of advances after his opponent withdrew from the tournament.
Kuwait's Ali Esmael, one of the four qualifiers into the main draw, had to be admitted to Rashid Hospital for severe dehydration and heat-stroke, and was left with no alternative but to withdraw due to medical reasons.
The second and third seeds, meanwhile, secured contrasting wins in their quarterfinals. Second seed Bence Gyula Toth was stretched the full distance before winning 6-4, 6-7 (1) and 6-4 against young British player Faris Akhazzan, while third-seeded Nikita Zotov powered his way to an easy 6-3, 6-2 win over his doubles partner Issam Al Taweel 6-3, 6-2.
"Such matches are normally harder to play," admitted Zotov.
"Both of us know each other's games so well, so there was nothing different that I could do," added the Russian.
Prior to coming to Dubai, Zotov has been on a winning streak taking the doubles titles in two Grade 2 and 3 tournaments in Egypt.
"I only hope I can continue with this form as I go into the semifinals," Zotov stated.
But the match that caught the attention of all was the one involving top seed Uzakov. The Uzbek was at his smoothest best as he went 5-0 up with a couple of breaks. And then, everything started going wrong for the left-hander as Asciak fought back to draw level at 5-5. With nothing to lose, Asciak matched the taller Uzakov serve for serve till he took the first set on the tie-break. "He played too well even for me," Uzakov lamented as he hurried off the court.
"I really don't know what happened to my game," he shrugged.
Asciak held his nerve and then his serve as he got an early break in the third game for a 2-1 lead. There was no looking back for the Maltese talent as he went through the set 6-3. "I was disappointed the way I started the first set. But then after being down 0-5, I came back so strongly that even I was surprised with the way I played," Asciak smiled.
"I think the key lay in me staying consistent all the time even as I tried to stretch him at both ends of the court," Asciak added.
Action will continue today with the singles semifinals, followed by the doubles finals starting at 7pm.
Results
Boys singles quarterfinals: Matthew Asciak bt Vaja Uzakov 7-6 (6), 6-3; Bence Toth bt Faris Akhazzan 6-4, 6-7 (1), 6-4; Kriszrian Krocsko bt Ali Ismael (walkover); Nikita Zotov bt Issam Al Taweel 6-3, 6-2.
Boys doubles quarterfinals: Issam Al Taweel/Nikita Zotov bt Hamid-Reza Alyasin/Jesse Kiuru 6-1, 6-3; Krisztian Krocsko/Bence-Gyula Toth bt David Grund/Jiri Kana 7-5, 6-3; Ivan Kobzar/Andrei Savulescu bt Matthew Asciak/Thomas Deighton 6-2, 6-2; Ali Ismael/Hashim Abdal bt Alexander Bull/Ahmad Sharaf 6-4, 6-3.
Girls doubles quarterfinals: Fatma Al Nabhani/Rana Tharwat-Hafez bt Shakhnoza Karieva/Sabina Kovtunova 4-6, 6-2, 6-1; Aleksandra Markovic/Valentina Starkova bt Krystyna Kazimova/Elizaveta Kuzmina 6-3, 1-6, 6-3; Stephanie Cornish/Laura Slater bt Irina Dementieva/Uliana Suchkova 6-0, 6-4; Judit Nagy/Kata Zekely bt Anna Malakhovich/Viktoria Yemialyanava 6-1, 6-2.
