ISLAMABAD: The main round of the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Futures kicks off at the Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF) Comples here on Monday as Pakistan hosts the event after nine long years.

Pakistan’s Shahzad Khan, Muhammad Shoaib, Yousaf Khalil, Muddassir Murtaza, Ahmed Chaudhry, Usman Rafique and Malik Abdul Rehman moved into main draw after the qualifying round. While, Ukraine’s Gleb Alekseenko after defeating Yasir Khan also made it to the main round.

Pakistan vetaran Aqeel Khan along with Muhammad Abid, Muzammil Murtaza and Samir Iftikhar will feature in the main round as wild card entries. Players from countries including Russia, India, Austria, Spain are also set to star.

World No 304 Russian Ivan Nedelkov, Spanish Sanz Perez David, Russian Kristain Lozan, Spain’s Pera Riba and Russian S Dzhanashia are some of the highly seeded players set to play in the main round.

Two more ITF Futures tournaments are scheduled to be held later this month, each carrying a prize money of $15,000.

Former Pakistan Davis Cup captain Hameed-ul-Haq was delightful about Pakistan hosting international tennis tournaments.

“Besides others, players from Europe, Russia and India are participating in this event, which is a highly encouraging sign not only for tennis but for all sports of the country,” he told Dawn.

Men’s singles qualifying results:

Shahzad Khan (Pak) bt Abdaal Haider (Pak) 6-2,3-6,6-3; Muhammad Shoaib (Pak) bt Ali Sahibzada (Pak) 6-1,6-3; Yousaf Khalil (Pak) bt Faizan Khurram (Pak) 6-0,3-2 Faizan retired; Mudassir Murtaza (Pak) bt Asad Mahmood Khan (Pak) 6-1,6-2; Gleb Alekseenko (Ukr) bt Yasir Khan (Pak) 6-4,6-3; Ahmed Chaudhry (Pak) bt Aman Attique Khan (Pak) 2-6,6-2,6-1; Usman Rafique (Pak) bt Saqib Hayat (Pak) 6-7(2),6-0,6-1; Malik Abdul Rehman (Pak) bt Muhammad Wagas Malik (Can) 6-4,6-4.

Published in Dawn, December 4th, 2017