Muzammil, Samir victorious, moves to second round of Serena ITF Tennis Tournament
Pakistani players fought hard against their opponents but only Muzammil Murtaza and Samir Iftikhar got the way forward to the second round of Men’s singles event on the second day of Serena Hotels ITF Futures Tennis Tournament at Syed Dilawar Abbas Tennis complex, Islamabad.
Muzammil to play against top seed Russain Ivan NedelkoIn in the second round as the Muzammil thrashed his Russian opponent in straight sets by 6-3 and 6-2. Wild Card holder young Muzammil played outstanding game and ousted the challenger in 85 minutes.
4th seeded Pera Riba from Spain defeated Pakistani No.1 Aqeel Khan in straight sets by 6-2, 6-2 in the center court of Syed Dilawar Abbas tennis complex, Islamabad. The match lasted for 69 minutes where Riba did not allow the veteran Pakistani opponent to play freely as he moves to the second round of the tournament. He became the first player to get into the quarterfinals of the tournament.
Samir Iftikhar defeated countryman and qualifier Usman Rafique in straight sets by 6-0 and 6-2. He now face German player Julian Onken in the second round of tournament tomorrow.
3rd seeded Russian player Kristian Lozan took only 46 minutes to take down Malik Abdul Rehman in straight sets by 6-0, 6-1. The only match that lasted for three sets was played between Ukrainian player Gleb Alekseenko and his French opponent Luka Pavlovic in which the Ukrainian player earned the match by 3-6, 6-4, 7-5. The match lasted for about 2 hours.
Another Ukraine Player Vadim Alekseenko defeated Canadian Kelsey Stevenson in straight sets by 6-4 and 7-6(9). Vadim took 126 minutes to take down Kelsey Stevenson. Pakistani Muddasar Murtaza lost his match against 7th seeded Austrian player Peter Goldsteiner by 6-0, 6-2 while Russian player Oleg Besednikov ousted Yousaf Khalil by 7-6(3), 6-3.
Top seeded Russian Ivan Nedelko defeated Pakistani Shahzad Khan in straight sets by 6-3, 6-3. In another match Roy Hobbs from Singapore takes 67 minutes to outclass Tajik player Fariduni Bakhodur in straight sets by 6-2, 6-1. Tournament’s 8 seed Alexander Lebedyn from Ukraine see off the Russian Anton Chekhov in straight sets by 6-2, 7-5. Alexander Lebedyn took 3 hours 23 minutes to defeat Anton Chekhov. In the last match of the day, 2nd seeded Spanish David Sanz Perez defeated countryman Ivan Ponomarenko in the first round match by 6-3, 6-2 to complete the lineup for second round.
Men's singles 2nd round matches and Men's doubles quarterfinals are scheduled to play tomorrow. Matches will start at 10:30(am) tomorrow.
Followings are the results:
Men's Singles - 1st Round
| 1 | Pera Riba [4] (Esp) | def. | Aqeel Khan (Pak) | 6-2, 6-2 |
| 2 | Muzammil Murtaza (Pak) | def. | Dmitry Myagkov (Rus) | 6-3, 6-2 |
| 3 | Samir Iftikhar (Pak) | def. | Usman Rafique (Pak) | 6-0, 6-2 |
| 4 | Kristian Lozan [3] (Rus) | def. | Malik Abdul Rehman (Pak) | 6-0, 6-1 |
| 5 | Gleb Alekseenko (Ukr) | def. | Luka Pavlovic (Fra) | 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 |
| 6 | Vadim Alekseenko (Ukr) | def. | Kelsey Stevenson (Can) | 6-4, 7-6(9) |
| 7 | Peter Goldsteiner [7] (Aut) | def. | Mudassar Murtaza (Pak) | 6-0, 6-2 |
| 8 | Oleg Besednikov (Rus) | def. | Yousaf Khalil (Pak) | 7-6(3), 6-3 |
| 9 | Ivan Nedelko [1] (Rus) | def. | Shahzad Khan (Pak) | 6-3, 6-3 |
| 10 | Roy Hobbs (Sgp) | def. | Fariduni Bakhodur (Tjk) | 6-2, 6-1 |
| 11 | Alexander Lebedyn [8] (Rus) | def. | Anton Chekhov (Ukr) | 6-2, 7-5 |
| 12 | David Sanz Perez [2] (Rus) | def. | Ivan Ponomarenko (Esp) | 6-3, 6-2 |
