Ruslan made to sweat by Mahatir

ISLAMABAD: Ruslan Serazhetdinov of Russia was stretched to the limit by local lad Mahatir Muhammad Khan as the ITF J5 Junior Tennis Championships II commenced at the PTF Complex here Monday.

Serazhetdinov won 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 but not before the Pakistani showed glimpses of powerful tennis in the second set. The match lasted one hour and 45 minutes.

A total of 21 matches were decided on the opening day in the boys’ and girls’ singles main draw. All seeded players moved into the second round.

Subhan bin Salik of Pakistan and Aki Zuban Rawat of Nepal were also involved in an exciting match.

Subhan won the first set 7-5 after breaking Rawat in the 11th game. Rawat won the second set 6-4 by breaking 10th game of Subhan bin Salik at 0-40. In the final set Rawat was in full command and did not allow Subhan to settle, hitting some powerful forehand and backhand drives, and won 6-1.

In the girls’ singles, Maleeha Khalid, daughter of former Davis Cup captain Muhammad Khalid, played her first international tournament match and defeated Sheeza Sajid.

Pakistan Tennis Federation’s Senior Executive Vice President Khawar Hyat Khan accompanied by SVP Saeed Ahmed Khan inaugurated the second leg of the tournament.

Results: Boys’ singles (first round): Muhammad Shoaib bt Bilal Asim 6-2, 6-1; Hamid Israr Gul bt Abdul Hanan 6-2, 6-2; Ruslan Serazhetdinov (Rus) bt Mahatir Muhammad Khan 6-3, 5-7, 6-2; Aryan Giri (Nep) bt Ahmad Nael Qureshi 6-3, 6-2; Ahmed Kamil bt Abdullah. 6-2, 7-6(1); Zalan Khan bt Yahya Luni 6-0, 6-0; Siddhartha Lama (USA) bt Muhammad Talha Khan 6-2, 6-4; Aoi Ooka (JPN) bt Sami Zeb Khan 6-2, 6-1; Rohan Belday (USA) bt Huzaima Abdul Rehman 6-1, 6-0; Roy Keegan (GBR) bt Hasheesh Kumar 7-5, 6-2; Muhammad Haider Ali Rizwan bt Saim Choudhry 6-1, 6-2; Aki Zuben Rawat (NEP) bt Subhan Bin Salik 5-7, 6-4, 6-1; Aarav Samrat Hada (NEP) bt Mustansir Ali Khan Barons 6-0, 6-0; Muhammad Huzaifa Khan bt Muhammad Hamza Aasim 6-2, 6-2; Alexander Karman (USA) bt Nalain Abbas 6-0, 6-0; Raja Azan Ahmed Sajid bt Ryaan Khawaja Saud (USA) 6-0, 6-3.

Girls’ singles (first round): Zahara Suleman bt Fatima Ali Raja bt 6-3, 6-1; Labika Durab bt Mahrukh Farooqui 6-3, 6-2; Maleeha Khalid bt Sheeza Sajid 6-1, 6-4; Zoha Asim bt Ekaterina Suvorova (RUS) bt 6-4, 6-2; Saher Aleem bt Zara Khan 6-4, 6-4.