Number one seed Quirine Lemoine from the Netherlands and eighth seed Kanika Vaidya of India barged into the second round of the Women’s Singles Main Draw yesterday, as the Bahrain ITF Futures Tennis Tournament 2018 got underway at Bahrain Tennis Club (BTC) in Juffair.
Meanwhile, the Czech pair of Ondrej Krstev and Patrik Rikl upset the top-seeded duo of Jelle Sels from the Netherlands and Fred Simonsson of Sweden in the Men’s Doubles Draw. It was the first major stunner in the tournament, signifying the very high level of the players competing in the Kingdom of Bahrain this year.
The Bahrain ITF Futures Tennis Tournament is being held under the patronage of His Majesty the King’s Charity Works and Youth Affairs Representative, Supreme Council for Youth and Sports Chairman and Bahrain Olympic Committee President Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa.
It is supported by the Ministry of Youth and Sports Affairs and is sponsored by E K Kanoo and Bahrain Duty Free.
Lemoine and Vaidya had contrasting victories in their first action on BTC’s hardcourts.
Lemoine was playing her first match after six-and-a-half months of recovering from an injury, but she showed no rust as she cruised past Romania’s Diana Maria Mihail in a fine 6-1, 6-0 win.
Vaidya was made to sweat before defeating Valeria Bhunu of Zimbabwe in three sets 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.
“First match win! Great to be back!” said Lemoine, who has 15 ITF singles titles in her name, including a win in the Bahrain ITF Futures back in 2014.
Singapore-based Vaidya, who is in her first time in Bahrain, added: “It was a really good, marathon-like match. Valeria played really well. I knew stepping onto the court that it was going to be a grind and nothing was going to be easy. I’m just glad I got the win in the end.
“There are a lot of good women out here and no match is an easy match. It’s always nice to get that first win under your belt. I look forward to my remaining matches.”
Lemoine, ranked 321st in the world, now moves on to face Sadafmoh Tolibova of Belarus in the next round. Tolibova was also a winner yesterday as she beat Hanna Grace Espinosa of the Philippines 6-1, 6-2 to march on.
Vaidya, ranked 741st in the world, will face the winner of the all-Indian first round match-up between Sowjanya Bavisetti and Teertha Iska.
In another Women’s Singles encounter yesterday, Maria Toma of Romania beat Lithuanian Wild Card Paulina Bakaite 6-3, 6-2 to make it through to round two.
In the Men’s Singles Main Draw, Bahraini Yousef Qaed retired from his match against Adrian Obert of Germany.
Qaed, who was one of four local Wild Cards, was forced to end his fight while trailing 1-3 in the second set. Obert, ranked 840th in the world, had won the first set 6-0.
Antoine Walch of France also made it into the second round. The 1,144th-ranked player battled back from a set down and needed nearly the maximum to defeat Moroccan qualifier Mohamed Adnaoui 6-7 (1), 7-6 (4), 6-2.
Obert and Walch are now in the men’s second round, where their opponents are yet to be determined.
Elsewhere, several doubles matches were also played yesterday and the biggest upset was amongst the men. Krstev and Rikl ousted the top-ranked pairing of Sels and Simonsson 5-7, 6-4, [12-10] in a nail-biting super tie-break.
Krstev and Rikl now move on to the Men’s Doubles quarter-finals, where they will take on Niklas Johansson of Sweden and Tadeas Paroulek of the Czech Republic. Johansson and Paroulek outplayed Bahraini hopefuls Elyas and Hasan Abdulnabi 6-2, 6-2 to go through.
All the other Men’s Doubles seeds made it through to the last eight, including second-seeded Czechs Marek Gengel and Dominik Kellovsky, third seeds Francis Casey Alcantara of the Philippines and Pak Long Yeung of Hong Kong, and fourth seeds Robert Galloway and Anderson Reed from the United States.
In the Women’s Doubles Main Draw, Oman’s Fatma Al Nabhani and the Philippines’ Marian Jade Capadocia ousted third seeds Nastja Kolar of Slovenia and Alexandra Riley from the United States.
All the other seeded teams went through to their quarter-finals following wins on Monday, including fourth seeds Diana Maria Mihail of Romania and Barbora Miklova of the Czech Republic. Top-ranked tandem Bhunu of Zimbabwe and Emily Webley-Smith of the UK, along with Indian second seeds Zeel Desai and Vaidya, each a bye from round one.
Matches continue today, all of which will be in the Men’s and Women’s Singles, starting from 11am and continuing until the evening. All are welcome to attend at BTC.
This year’s Bahrain ITF Futures Tennis Tournament features a total prize fund of a staggering $30,000 for both the men’s and women’s competitions. Players from more than 50 nations have registered to compete.
The Bahrain ITF Futures tournaments provide the entry level of professional tournaments, enabling players to reach higher-level competitions on both the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) World Tour and the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) Tour. For more information, contact BTC on +973-17729561 or e-mail bahrain.tennisclub@gmail.com.