KARACHI, Dec 22: Davis Cupper and fifth seed, Shahzad Khan, took a step closer of winning the first title of his career when he pulled off a major upset by administering a straight defeat to top seed, Aqeel Khan, in the men’s singles semifinal of the KC Yaqoob Admaney memorial tennis tournament at the Karachi Club on Thursday.

Trailing 2-5 in the opener, Shahzad recovered to turn the table on his opponent with a 7-5, 6-4 win and set a date with fourth seed Jalil Khan in the Friday’s final.

The defeat, second in 18 days, signalled decline in the form and fitness of Aqeel Khan on the eve of Group 1 Asia Oceania zone Davis Cup tie against Taiwan on their soil.

He had lost to Asim Shafik 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 in the Federal Cup final at Islamabad Club clay court on Dec 4.

‘This is my first victory against much experienced Aqeel which has put me in the final,’ a jubilant Shahzad told Dawn after the match.

A native of Faisalabad, Shahzad said he had recently extended Aqeel to three sets before bowing out in the Khyber Cup semifinal after a tie-breaker.

Unbeaten for the last five years, Pakistan No 1 Aqeel Khan said he relaxed after enjoying 5-2 lead in the first set which changed the complexion of the match.

Praising his opponent, he said Shahzad played attacking and cashed the opportunities.

Davis Cupper Aqeel became second victim after Jalil Khan toppled Asim Shafik in the first pre-final the other day.

Displaying awesome cross court performance, un-seeded Nida Wasim disposed off second seed Mariyam Rahim 6-2, 6-3 to clinch the women’s singles title.

Playing competitive tennis after a year’s lay-off Nida, 23, who is here on holidays from England where she is studying law, was in superb form taking a 5-0 lead in the first set.

Mariyam, the national grass court champion, broke her serve and later retained it to reduce the deficit 2-5 before losing the service and the set 2-6.

The second set saw Mariyam enjoying 3-2 lead. However, after breaking her serve, Nida raced on collect four points to wrap up the set 6-3.

Highly promising, Aamina Hamid, crowned the girls under-17 title by handing a 6-2, 3-6,6-1 defeat to Sara Mahboob in the final.

The juniors’ under-17 title went to Yasir Khan who handed 6-2, 6-1 defeat to Tanveer Ashiq while boys under-15 title was annexed by Nasir Mushtaq.

Results:

Men’s singles (semifinal): Shahzad Khan bt Aqeel Khan 7-5, 6-4.

Women’s singles (final): Nida Wasim bt Mariyam Rahim 6-2, 6-3.

Girls under-17 singles (final): Aamina Hamid bt Sara Mahboob 6-2, 3-6, 6-1.

Juniors’ under-17 singles (final): Yasir Khan bt Tanveer Ashiq 6-2, 6-1.

Boys under-15 singles (final): Nasir Mushtaq bt Heera Ashiq 6-1 3-1 (retd).

Friday’s fixtures:

Jalil Khan v Shahzad Khan (final) at 4.00pm.