Sport | Tennis
Oman's Al Nabhani easily makes the second round of Dubai Cup
Oman's Fatma Al Nabhani eased her way into the second round of the women's singles at the Dubai Aviation Cup ITF F1 Futures on Tuesday.
- By Alaric Gomes, Senior Reporter
- Published: 23:40 November 18, 2008
Dubai: Oman's Fatma Al Nabhani eased her way into the second round of the women's singles at the Dubai Aviation Cup ITF F1 Futures on Tuesday.
Al Nabhani, one of the few emerging women players from the Gulf region, was in total control as she clinched her encounter against Ukrainian Yuliana Umanets 6-1, 6-1 in 73 minutes.
"It feels good to be playing in the second round of a competition like this one as it has attracted some of the top players on the circuit," Al Nabhani told Gulf News.
"The idea is to keep on improving and getting ready for the next challenge," added the Omani teenager.
Al Nabhani dominated her Ukrainian opponent from the start.
She started with an early break in the second game in between holding her serve to lead 3-0 in the first set.
Double faults
Umanets broke back in the fifth, thanks to a couple of double faults, Al Nabhani still went ahead and took the set 6-1.
"She is a very good player, but I think I was better today," said Al Nabhani.
She continued her good form in the second set, mixing her game well for an early 4-0 lead.
Umanets held serve for the first time to make it 4-1.
But Al Nabhani just kept her focus and took the next two games to wrap up set and match 6-1.
Results
Women's singles: Nadezda Samoylo bt Khristina Kazimova 6-4, 4-6, 6-1; Lara Rafful bt Daniela Islamaj 6-1, 7-6 (4); Yulia Georgieva bt Daria Abdakhmanova 7-6 (3), 7-5; Vladislava Kuzmenkova bt Zuzana Zlochova 7-5, 6-4; Marta Sirotkina bt Maria Stepanova 6-0, 6-1; Manana Shapakidze bt Demi-Manuella Barao-Rodrigues 6-2, 6-1; Katerina Polunina bt Tracy Schroeder 4-6, 6-2, 6-0; Ofelya Poghosyan bt Nicola Mooney 1-6, 7-5, 6-4; Alexandra Damaschin bt Alexandra Artamonova 4-6, 6-4, 6-0; Fatma Al Nabhani bt Yuliana Umanets 6-1, 6-1.
Men's singles: Marco Chiudinelli bt Frederic Jean-Claude 6-0 (retd.); Tobias Klein bt James Ward 6-4, 6-4; Pavel Chekhov bt Jonathan Kinsella 3-6, 6-1, 7-5; Laurent Rochette bt Vladimir Karusevich 6-2, 6-3; Ivo Klec bt Aleksandr Agafonov 6-0, 6-2.
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