BENAZIR BHUTTO ITF FUTURES: Abid joins Aqeel, Muzammil in 2nd round

ISLAMABAD: Local wildcard-holder Abid Ali Akbar surprised Serbian Igor Banicevic in a marathon three-set match to move into the second round of the men’s singles event of the Benazir Bhutto Shaheed ITF Futures Tennis Championships at the Islamabad Tennis Courts on Tuesday.

Abid won 5-7, 6-3, 7-6 (2) in a match that lasted almost three hours. The Serbian player got off to an encouraging start with a victory in the extended first set.

The second set, however, turned out to be an easy one for Abid, who broke his opponent serve once to settle the matter. It was third set that went down to the wire with Banicevic making full use of his reach to take the matter into tiebreak. Abid, who has shown improvement in recent past, however was quick to grab the opportunity winning it with ease.

“It was a tough day for me on the court and match against Serbian went to full distance. I held on to my nerves on crucial time to win the day and earned a place in the second round,” Abid said.

He would now join Aqeel Khan and Muzammil Murtaza as the third local making it to the second round.

All other men’s singles matches, however, proved one-sided affairs with winners making it to the next round with ease. In doubles matches, local pair of Aqeel Khan and Muzammil Murtaza beat much-experienced international duo of Joe Cooper (Britain) and Matt Seeberger (USA) in straight sets 6-3, 6-4.

Ushna Suhail and Sarah Mahboob won their matches easily in ladies and juniors’ singles national event.

Ushna beat Sheeza Sajid 6-0, 6-0 while Sarah Mahboob breezed past Mehek Khokhar 6-0, 6-1.

Results: Men’s singles round of 32: Alexander Pavlioutchenkov (RUS) bt Ahmed Chaudhry (Pak) 6-3, 7-6 (1); Shamael Chaudhry (Gbr) bt Dmitry Myagkov (Rus) 6-3, 6-3; Kumthonkittikul Worovin (Tha) bt Nauman Aftab (Pak) 6-3, 6-1; Abid Ali Akbar (Pak) bt Igor Banicevic 5-7, 6-3, 7-6 (2); Kai Wehnhelt (Ger) bt Jackson Varney (Aus) 6-4, 6-1; Hamidreza Nadaf (Iri) bt Lakshit Sood (Ind) 6-1, 6-2; Rio Noguchi (Jpn) bt Kento Tagashira (Jpn) 6-0, 7-5.

Men’s doubles round of 16: Anton Chekhov (RUS) & Kai Wehnelt (GER) bt Lakshit Sood (IND) & Chandril Sood (IND) 6-2, 6-4; Ti Chen (TPE) & Ray Ho (TPE) bt Dmitry Myagkov (RUS) & Saidkarimov Saida’lo (UZB) 6-2, (5) 6-7, 12-10; Aqeel Khan (Pak) & Muzammil Murtaza (Pak) bt Joe Cooper (GBR) & Matt Seeberger (USA) 6-3, 6-4; Alexander Pavlioutchenkov (RUS) & Vladimir Polyakov (RUS) bt Lorenzo Bocchi (ITA) & Darko Jandric (SRB) 7-6 (5), 2-6, 10-8; Ahmed Chaudhry (Pak) & Hao Yuan NG (SGP) bt Muhammad Abid (PAK) & Waqas Malik (CAN) 6-4, 6-4.

Benazir Bhutto National Ranking Tennis: Ladies’ singles: Ushna Suhail bt Sheeza Sajid 6-0, 6-0; Sarah Mahboob bt Mehek Khokhar 6-0, 6-1; Esha Jawad bt Fatima Ali Raja 6-1, 6-1; Bakhtawar Haider bt Mahrukh Farooque 6-1, 6-2; Mahvish Chishtie bt Adela Miron 6-0, 6-1; Khunsha Baber bt Mahnoor Suhail 6-0, 6-0; Hania Navid bt Shimza Naz 6-3, 6-3.

Boys’ Under-18 singles 1st round: Rayan Jawad bt Muhammad Bin Mufasir 6-0, 6-4; Sikandar Amin w/o Shehzad Khan; Faizan Shahid w/o Hammadullah; Saim Danish bt Hamza Jawad 6-3, 0-6, 6-1; Azan Sajid bt Hasan Bin Mufasir 7-5, 2-6, 6-3; Musa Chaudhry w/o Muhammad Omar.

Boys’ Under-14 singles 2nd round: Taha Aman bt Azan Shahid 6-1, 6-1; Hamza Roman w/o Asim Haziq; Kashan Umar bt Mujtaba Tariq 6-0, 6-2; Sami Zeb bt Saim Danish 6-2, 6-4; Hamid Israr bt Kamran Khan 6-2, 6-1; Talha Khan bt Hamza Asim 6-1, 6-0; Uzair Khan bt Azan Sajid 6-0, 6-0; Ahmed Nael bt Ali Zain 6-0, 6-2.

Boys/Girls’ Under-10 singles 1st round: Hamza Roman bt Hamad Shah 4-2, 4-2; Abdul Wassay bt Amna Qayyum 4-0, 4-0; Jamal Shah bt Rayan Aman 4-0, 4-1; Abdul Basit bt Mahrukh Sajid 4-0, 4-0; Haziq Asim bt Zainab Ali Raja 3-5, 4-1, 4-1; Abdur Rehman w/o Abdul Rehman; Ali Zain w/o Abubakar Talha.