Russia’s Dmitry cruises into junior tennis semis

ISLAMABAD: Dmitry Dolzhenkov from Russia edged out Carl Holder of France in an exciting two-set match to move into the boys’ singles semi-finals of the PTF President ITF World J5 Junior Tennis Championships here at the PTF Complex.

Dmitry ultimately won 7-5, 7-5 but not before Holder showed quality stuff and came close to making an impact.

In a three-setter thriller, Sam Kydd Baumgartner (SUI) edged out Artiom Dorofeev (France) 1-6, 7-5, 6-4. The Swiss who was complaining of an upset stomach came back strongly after losing the first to win against powerful French player.

In the girls’ singles, United Kingdom-based Iman Khan also won a three-set match beating Arina Arifullina of Russia 6-3, 3-6, 6-1. Iman was seen at her best in the third set where she just conceded one game.

Salim Saifullah Khan, President Pakistan Tennis Federation, witnessed some of the matches and appreciated the quality of the players and wished them good luck for their upcoming matches.

Results: Boys’ singles quarter-finals: Dmitry Dolzhenkov (RUS) bt Carl Holder (FRA) 7-5, 7-5; Andrey Kozlov (RUS) bt Siddhartha Lama (USA) 2-6, 6-2, 6-3; Birtan Duran (TUR) bt Yakup Uzunel (DEN) 6-1, 6-1; Sam Kydd Baumgartner (SUI) bt Artiom Dorofeev (FRA) 1-6, 7-5, 6-4.