Dubai: The top four seeds eased their way into the girls singles semi-finals, but the boy’s section witnessed a couple of shocks at the 15th Dubai ITF Junior Championships being played at the Dubai Tennis Stadium.
In Thursday’s action, sixth seed Mert Alkaya of Turkey upset top seed Mohammad Abdel Aziz of Egypt 4-6, 7-5, 6-1, while unheralded Ryuki Matsuda of Japan, seeded number five here, gave himself the perfect debut in Dubai with a hard-fought 6-3, 5-7, 6-1 win over fourth seed Sengul Bora from Turkey. Great Britain’s Joshua Rose also eased into the last four with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Ilkel to meet the Japanese on Friday.
“Today’s win will help a lot in boosting my confidence further,” Alkaya told Gulf News after sending the top seed packing.
“My strength lies in my mental ability to break down my opponent. I’ve watched my opponent [Virtanen] playing earlier this morning, and I think I can get past him,” he added.
Matsuda also looked confident of victory against his British opponent. “He’s got a solid game, but I know how to tackle him,” the 16-year-old from Kyoto said.
Meanwhile, in the girls category, number one Clara Tauson of Denmark led the march of the remaining three seeds into the semi-finals. Tauson eased her way past qualifier Dasha Lopatetskaya 6-0, 6-4 and prepared herself for a meeting with third-seeded Zoziya Kardava of Russia — winner at last week’s Second Fujairah Junior Cup. The Russian disposed off Turkey’s Ebru Zeynep Yazgan 6-3, 6-3.
In the lower half of the draw, second seed Mariam Dalakishvili sent packing last week’s Fujairah runner-up Carmen Roxana Manu 6-0, 6-2, while fourth seed Olivia Elliott powered her way to a fluent 6-1, 7-5 win over seventh seed Anastasia Bovolskaya.
RESULTS
Girls quarter-finals: Clara Tauson def. Dasha Lopatetskaya 6-0, 6-4; Zoziya Kardava def. Ebru Zeynep Yazgan 6-3, 6-3; Olivia Elliott def. Anastasia Bovolskaya 6-1, 7-5; Mariam Dalakishvili def. Carmen Roxana Manu 6-0, 6-2.
Boys quarter-finals: Mert Alkaya def. Mohammad Abdel Aziz 4-6, 7-5, 6-1; Otto Virtanen def. Baran Cengiz 6-3, 7-6 (6); Ryuki Matsuda def. Bora Sengul 6-3, 5-7, 6-1; Joshua Rose def. Berk Ilkel 6-3, 6-3.
