Kirkin impresses in Benazir Int’l Tennis

ISLAMABAD: Turkish junior champion Ergi Kirkin makes waves in the Benazir Bhutto Future III International Tennis with a resounding performance in men’s singles and doubles at the Islamabad Tennis Complex courts Thursday.

Ergi Kirkin first moved into the semi-finals of the men’s singles event with a straight set victory over Anton Chekhov (France) 6-4, 6-2 and then pairing with Nikolay Vyleghanin (Rus) accounted for Pakistan top pair of Aqeel Khan (Pak)/Shahzad Khan (Pak) 6-4, 6-4.It was performance in the singles that caught many eyes especially the way he handled Russian in the quarter-finals.

Despite being junior and new to circuit, he kept pressure on the Russian with consistent baseline game to force him make errors. After winning the first set easily, Kirkin continued with the same vein in the second and went on to beat struggling Russian for a place in the semis.

“Following six months of layoff because of injury, I have just started playing competitive tennis again. I trained hard for Pakistan circuit and after putting in over one month of physical training, I am now enjoying my tennis,” he said.

Kirkin who is ranked among the top six Turkish professional was seen playing with ease in the singles where he mostly relied on his stamina and fitness making his opponent struggle to match his fast game.“I knew well that Russians are tough customers but I made sure that I would play normal game and would wait for my opponent to commit mistakes. That exactly what happened at the end,” he said.

Later, pairing with teenage Russian Nikolay Vyleghanin (Rus) he sent Pakistan pair of Aqeel and Shahzad packing 6-4, 6-4. One break in each set was enough to beat Pakistan’s champion pair. Aqeel and Shhazad who won the first two Future doubles title this time found going tough as they were managed easily by the teenagers.

Results: Men’s singles quarter-finals: Ergi Kirkin (Tur) bt Anton Chekhov (Russia) 6-4, 6-2; Ivan Nedelko (Rus) bt Kunal Anand (Ind) 6-3, 7-5; Peter Goldsteiner (Aut) bt Shalva Dzhanashiya (Rus) 6-3,6-3; Enrique Lopez-Perez(Esp) bt Julian Onken (Ger) 6-2, 6-4.

Doubles: Ergi Kirkin(Tur)/Nikolay Vyleghanin (Rus) bt Aqeel Khan (Pak)/Shahzad Khan(Pak) 6-4, 6-4; Enrique Lopez-Perez (Esp) bt Julain Onken (Ger) 6-2, 6-4; Gleb Alekseenko (Ukr)/Ivan Ponomarenko (Rus)bt Shalva Dzhanashiya (Rus)/Ivan Nedelko (Rus) 4-2 retd; Enrique Lopez-Perez (Esp)/Kristian Lozan (Rus) bt Parameer Singh Bajwa(Ind)/Ajay Pruthvi Nemakal (Ind) 6-2, 6-1; Peter Goldsteiner (Aut)/Julain Onken (Ger) bt Anurag Nenwani (Ind)/Jayesh Pungliya (Ind) 6-0, 6-3; Ergi Kirkin (Tur)/Nikolay Vylegzhanin (Rus) bt Vadim Alekseenko (Ukr)/Anton Chekhov(Rus) 7-5, 2-6 [10-3].