Al Janahi shows fine form to reign supreme

The Al Janahi family stole the limelight at the end of the first Listerine junior tennis tournament held at the Dubai World Trade Centre Club.

Hamad Abbas Esmail Al Janahi set the tone of things for his younger siblings when he clinched the under-18 title with an emphatic 6-1, 6-2 win against Aleksa Ilic.

Younger sister Fatima Esmail then battled an niggling foot injury before getting past Ameera Al Kamba 6-4, 4-6, 10-6 in an exciting under-12 final.

Fahad Esmail had taken the cadets crown earlier during the morning.

Capping a fine performance was the eldest Al Janahi boy with his authoritative win against Ilich. He breezed through the opening set giving his Serbian opponent no chance to fight back. Hamad seemed to falter in the second set when he was broken twice to be tied 2-2.

However, the 14-year-old managed to keep his cool and his game to rattle off the next four games and win easily. "It's a good feeling to leave a tournament with the title," Hamad said.

"What makes it even more pleasing is that all three of us have won in our categories," he smiled.

With the left-hander sticking to a fierce serve and volley array, Ilich did not know how to overcome his younger opponent.

"I was in no mood for long rallies," Hamad said.

"I wanted to kept the games tight and finish the final off as soon as I could," he added. This strategy seemed to work well for the UAE national junior team captain as Ilich faltered with his normally steady baseline game.

"If anyone who has seen me play before watched today, then he would have known that this is not the way I normally play," Ilich said.

"But Hamad played well," he complimented.

Also doing herself proud by clinching three titles was young Mekhala Benny.

The teenager helped herself to two titles here, winning the girls under-18 and the under-14 crowns to cap a fine day on court.

Benny's toughest test came in the under-18 competition as she battled against a gutsy Yalda Gerami before winning in the super tie-breaker.

The junior tournament was held under the auspices of Tennis Emirates with sponsorship from Listerine, Penn and Head.

Results
Boys' U-18: Hamad Esmail Al Janahi bt Aleksa Ilich 6-1, 6-2.
Boys' U-18 doubles: Kareem Awad/ Aleksa Ilich bt Lucas McCone/Sam McCone 6-0, 6-1.
Boys' U-14: Awad Mourad bt Adam de Romas 6-4, 4-6, 11-9.
Boys' U-14 doubles: Michael Tonna/Jan Matus bt Faisal Samarei/Francesco D'Angio 6-1, 7-5;
Girls' U-18: Mekhala Benny bt Yalda Gerami 7-6 (10-5).
Girls' U-18 doubles: Yalda Gerami/Yekta Gerami bt Anvita Dajani/Eesha Shah 6-0, 6-0.
Girls' U-14: Mekhala Benny bt Mariam Behroozian 6-4, 6-3.
Girls' U-12: Fatime Esmail bt Ameera Al Kamda 6-4, 4-6, 10-6;
Girls U-10: Honor Nicholl bt Fatima Behroozian 6-3, 6-2.
Boys' U-12: Pranav Walia bt Waleed Asmar 6-3, 4-6, 10-4.
Boys' U-12 doubles: Eric de Romas/Kirk Rebuyas bt Marwan Al Kaissi/Waleed Nihad Asmar 5-7, 6-4, 12-10.
Boys' U-10: Marwan Al Kaissi bt Gian Marco D'Angio 6-3, 6-1.