Dubai: Unheralded Turkish teenager Mert Alkaya continued his amazing run by knocking off yet another seed to make his way into the boy’s singles final at the 15th Dubai ITF Junior Championships at the Dubai Tennis Stadium on Friday.
Alkaya, who had dumped top seed Mohammad Abdel Aziz in Thursday’s quarter-finals, took exactly an hour and a half to pack off seventh seed Otto Virtanen 6-2, 6-4 in the first semi-final.
He will now meet fifth seed Ryuki Matsuda of Japan after the 16-year-old from Kyoto fought well to tame second seed, Joshua Rose of Great Britain 6-1, 4-6, 6-1.
“I am so happy as this is my first-ever singles final on the ITF circuit,” the teenager from Istanbul told Gulf News.
“This is my chance to do something big in my career and I won’t allow this opportunity to pass me by,” he added.
Earlier this summer, Alkaya was leading 6-2, 5-1 and serving for the match in an attempt to reach his first-ever final during an ITF Grade V tournament in Amman, Jordan. “But I lost my concentration and the match from that winning position. Today I am wiser and I won’t allow a similar thing to happen to me,” he said.
“Going by my past experiences, I wanted this final very badly. And now that I have it I am so relieved. I will now go and watch the second semi-final to see how I will need to tackle my opponent in tomorrow’s final,” Alkaya added.
Matsuda, who had defeated fourth seed Bora Sengul on Thursday, was delighted at making his second career final following his first one at the Hyogo International Junior Tournament in Japan in the second week of September.
“I’ve seen him [Alkaya] play and I have a plan in mind to counter his game,” Matsuda said.
“I have been motivated this week and my mental perseverance will be my strong point against my opponent,” added the Japanese who will turn 17 at the end of December.
The girls singles top seed was headed towards a double when she combined with Great Britain’s Olivia Elliott to win the doubles crown on Friday afternoon. The top-seeded duo made light work of the Hungarian pairing of Timea Visontai and Reka Zadori in straight sets 6-1, 6-1.
Earlier in the morning the finalists were decided with the top two seeds securing near-identical wins. Top seed Tauson of Denmark made her way past third seed Zoziya Kardava of Russia 6-2, 7-5, while second seed Mariam Dalakishvili of Georgia secured a 7-5, 6-2 win over fourth seed Elliott.
The boys’ doubles title went to the Spanish pairing of Alvaro Bueno Gil and Antonio Muniz Hidalgo following their 6-1, 6-4 win over Andrew Paulson and Otto Virtanen.
Both the boy’s and girls singles finals will be played at 11am at the Dubai Tennis Stadium on Saturday, and will be followed by the presentation of trophies in the presence of representatives from main sponsors Dubai Duty Free.
RESULTS
Boy’s singles semi-finals: Mert Alkaya def. Otto Virtanen 6-2, 6-4; Ryuki Matsuda def. Joshua Rose 6-1, 4-6, 6-1.
Boy’s doubles final: Alvaro Bueno Gil/Antonio Muniz Hidalgo def. Andrew Paulson/Otto Virtanen 6-1, 6-4.
Girls singles semi-finals: Clara Tauson def. Zoziya Kardava 6-2, 7-5; Mariam Dalakishvili def. Olivia Elliott 7-5, 6-2.
Girls doubles final: Olivio Elliott/Clara Tauson x Timea Visontai/Reka Zadori 6-1, 6-1.
