Spain’s Lopez-Perez clinches Kulsum Int’l Tennis crown

ISLAMABAD: Enrique Lopez-Perez (Spain) brought down high flying Russian with a resounding victory to win Kulsum Saifullah International Future II men’s singles title while local pair of Aqeel Khan and Shahzad Khan won yet another doubles crown at the PTF Complex court Sunday.

In what turned out to be one-sided affair at the end, Lopez-Perez overwhelmed Ivan Nedelko (Russia) 7-6 (1), 6-1 to annex his third successive Future title. Lopez-Perez who missed the first Future as he was busy playing in Egypt was seen in ruthless form, sending in some sizzling forehand shots to totally bamboozle Russian. Though Russian was seen battling it out in the first set where he broke back Lopez-Perez to go at par, he had no answer to some down the line winners of Spaniard. Lopez-Perez who won two back to back titles in Egypt made it all look easy in the second set where he made Russian sweat. “I took time to settle down but once I got into rhythm, I started playing my best tennis. In the first set I got upset at couple of line calls. I recovered in time to take control of the proceedings,” Lopez-Perez said. His control on drop shots was exceptional and so was his ability to turn the backhand into forehand with swift movement at the baseline.

“I missed the first Future because of my engagement in Egypt. It is good to start Pakistan leg with win,” he said.Ivan Nedelko who defeated Spaniard almost three years back, this time found gong tough. “He has improved and at the same time I did not play to best of my abilities,” Russian said.He hoped to turn the table on Lopez-Perez in the forthcoming Benazir Bhutto Future III.

In the doubles event final, Pakistani pair of Aqeel Khan and Shahzad Khan lived up to their reputation beating Russian & Ukranian pair of Anton Chekhov and Alexandr Lebedyn 7-6 (5), 3-6, 10-6. The pair recorded their names in the annals of history by winning consecutive doubles ITF Finals-becoming the first Pakistani duo to do so. Aqeel Khan thanked local crowd for backing. “The crowd was fully behind us and that turned out to be the reason of this win. Unlike the first Future where we won easily, this time around we have to work hard for win,” he said.

Zafar Iqbal Jhagra Governor KPK, Minister Inter-provincial Coordination (IPC) Riaz Hussain Pirzada, President PTF Salim Saifullah Khan, Ali Alizada (Ambassador of Azerbaijan to Pakistan), Dr. Akhter Nawaz Ganjeera DG Pakistan Sports Board (PSB), diplomats and high profile dignitaries witnessed the matches and expressed their pleasure at the exciting games of tennis being played in Islamabad.

The President PTF congratulated the winners of the Ffnals and thanked the ITF, government and all its functionaries for their help in bringing the international tennis back to Pakistan. Honorable Minister Inter-provincial Coordination Riaz Hussain Pirzada (the guest of honor) also expressed his pleasure at the holding of International events in Islamabad and thanked the president PTF for the invitation. Zafar Iqbal Jhagra Governor KPK, the chief guest also spoke on the occasion. He applauded the efforts of President PTF, law enforcement agencies, the ministry of sports and media for their efforts to successfully hold the tennis tournaments.

Results: Men’s single final: Enrique Lopez-Perez (ESP) [2] bt Ivan Nedelko (RUS): 7-6 (1), 6-1.

Men’s doubles: Aqeel Khan (PAK) / Shahzad Khan (PAK) bt Anton Chekhov (RUS)/ Alexandr Lebedyn (UKR) [2]: 7-6 (5), 3-6, 10-6.