Abdul Jabbar Faisal
ISLAMABAD (November 20, 2021):-Mujtaba Ali Khan from USA has won the title of ITF Pakistan, ITA-Midcourt International Juniors Tennis Championship after beating Russian lad Amir Asylkozhaev, who was second seed, in straight sets 2-0 in the Boys’ Singles final at PTF Tennis Complex Islamabad on Saturday. The final score-line was 7-6 and 6-2.
In the first set, Mujtaba Ali Khan (USA) was downed 0-5 after wasting three game points in 3rd game, as his opponent was too good in forehand drives. Mujtaba won the 6th game and bounced back in the crucial match. After breaking the love score, Mujtaba played a top quality game and did not allow his challenger to win the set. He broke the 7th and 9th service of the Russian player and leveled the set score 5-5 after holding the service in 10th game of the first set. Khan had a chance to finish the set at 7-5 when he broke the service of Amir in the 11th game but failed to maintain his pace in the 12th game that he wasted. At set-break Mujtaba finished at 7-3 and got a vital lead in the final.
Later, in the second set, both players took the start with confidence but Amir was good and earned the early lead 2-0 after breaking the opponent's serve in the first game. After going down 0-2, Mujtaba Ali once again came back in the match from behind and leveled the set 2-2. At this stage, the winning guy showed his full power and played an excellent game of tennis and amused the spectators. He used his great services and played powerful forehand and backhand drives from base-line and finished the set at 6-2. Amir could not get a solitary point in the 5th, 6th and 7th games, as that finished 40-0.
“I am happy with my performance and I was not well settled in the first set in which I went down 0-5 but I was trying to win at least a single game in the first set. After winning the first game I got the command in the match. The first set win encouraged me a lot. My service was good as compared to Amir. He is also a good player. I had to toil hard in the court to overcome him in the final, “Mujtaba Ali Khan said while talking to www.sports-bulletin.com after the match.
Earlier, in the morning session, in the Girls’ Singles final, Taylor Goetz Taylor from USA beat Abhilasha Bista from Nepal in straight sets 2-0. The winner conceded only a single game in the two sets. Col. Gul Rehman (Retd) Secretary Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF) distributed the prizes among the winners and runner ups.
