Shahzad off to winning start in Kulsum tennis

ISLAMABAD: Shahzad Khan beat Barkatullah in the opening round of men’s singles in the 6th Begum Kulsum Saifullah Khan National Ranking Tennis Tournament that got underway at the PTF Complex here Tuesday.

Shahzad, who was stretched to three sets, after losing the second went on to win 6-3, 0-6, 6-2. The hard-court specialist won the first set easily and then apparently conceded the second in an effort to go all out in the third. Shahzad’s plans perfectly worked in the third.

Muzammil Murtaza was also stretched to full in the second set by Imran Bhatti 6-2, 7-6(4). The No 2 seed, however, went on to win the second set in a tie-break making good use of his powerful service on the newly-laid hard courts.

As many as 30 matches were played in the men’s singles, boys’ 18 and under, and 14 and under category on the opening day of the main round. All the top players advanced to the second round with comfortable wins as a high standard of tennis was witnessed.