Dubai: Eshaan Lumba and Vipasha Mehra were crowned the under-18 boys’ and girls’ champions, while Garv Bahl clinched the boys’ under-16 title in the opening leg of the ongoing FuturePro Tennis Talent Series.
Held at the Kings School tennis courts in Al Barsha as part of the newly formed UAE National Ranking Tennis Tournaments run by the UAE Tennis Federation, the three categories of the competition attracted more than 100 players. The tournament will continue with the men’s, women’s and veterans’ competitions this week.
The lanky Lumba won 6-1, 7-5 against a spirited Karan Manghnani for the under-18 title. The 15-year-old champion from Dubai American Academy did not drop a single set in his four matches. But after taking the first set 6-1, he was stretched in the second before winning 7-5.
“I really enjoyed playing the tournament and it is a great initiative from the UAE Tennis Federation. I have been in Dubai for the past three years and it was getting a bit frustrating not to be able to play regular tournament tennis. But with the UAE National Ranking Tournaments, that issue has been addressed,” said Lumba.
Mehra, an ITF-ranked player who trains at FuturePro, was equally impressive in her victory. The 15-year-old southpaw was a 6-2, 6-3 winner over Russia’s Rosaleen Alioussef in the final, and in the boys’ under-16 finals, Bahl was an easy 6-3, 6-0 winner over the Under-14 champion Elias Anwar.
FuturePro will be hosting five legs of National Ranking Tournaments until May 2018 as part of the official UAE National Tennis calender. Further details and entry forms of the tournaments can be accessed at www.futureprotennis.ae.