Nael upsets top seed Tadpong to enter final

ISLAMABAD: Local boy and fourth seed Nael Ahmed Qureshi surprised top seed Tadpong Kamonpanyakorn of Thailand in a thrilling three-set match to move into boys’ singles final of the ITF J-30 at the Junior Tennis Championships-II 2023 here at PTF-SDA Tennis Complex.

Nael, who is student of Westminster School and upcoming talented youngster from Ace Tennis Academy, won 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 to earn a place in the title match.

In the first set, Nael took the set to 3-3 before playing some loose shots, committing unforced errors and hitting a double fault. At this stage, Tadpong built up a 5-4 lead and finished the set at 6-4.

However Qureshi played an attacking game according to the situation in the second set and built up a healthy 4-2 lead by breaking the 2nd and 6th game of Tadapong.

Nael after losing the 7th game played extraordinary tennis and broke back the 8th game, holding his own to take the set 6-3 to make it 1-1.

In the final set, both the players exhibited a high standard of tennis. Tadapong tried his best and succeeded to break the 4th game of Qureshi to go 3-1 up. Nael bounced back, changed the pace and strategy of the game plan.