The Tennis 360 Australian Open Finals Weekend wrapped up yesterday with six of the best young players in the region facing off at Meydan.
The tournament again proved a big hit with the action also taking place under th e watchful eye of Moroccan tennis legend Younes El Aynaoui.
The 10-and-under category saw Anurag Reddy beat Arthur O’Sullivan, who flew in from Qatar to take part, having moved to Doha a couple of months ago. Anurag, who trains at Al Wasl Club, beat Arthur 6-2 in a competitive one-set final to take home the coveted Tennis 360 Junior Invitational trophy.
Anurag only picked up a racquet 15 months ago when he was introduced to the sport at the Mubadala Tennis in School Programme and the young Indian has made tremendous progress.
“I’m very happy to win this tournament,” said Anurag after receiving the trophy at Meydan. “I love tennis and my favourite shot is the backhand down-the-line.”
Arthur was happy to make the final and said it was definitely worth the trip from Doha, where he trains at the Sheraton Hotel.
The 12-and-under event witnessed the toughest final of the day between PSS duo Viktor Jovic and Patrick Wong, who battled it out for over two hours before Viktor eventually won 7-5, 6-4.
The young Serb went through some long tactical rallies with Wong before he grabbed the title. “I played OK. I usually play more aggressive than this but I was trying something different today,” said Viktor.
Patrick was happy with his showing against a tough opponent. He said: “I’m happy with the score. I’ve lost to him twice before quite easily so I’m glad this time I made it tough for him.”
The 14-and-under category was won by Mujahid Khan, who beat fellow 13-year-old Dhruv Bahl 6-2, 6-1. “The score doesn’t really tell the whole story, it was a lot closer,” said Mujahid.
“I’m very happy I got invited to this tournament, it’s very well-organised and the level of competition is quite high.” Event organiser and Business Development Director of Tennis 360, Gwen Sproule, says she was thrilled with how the weekend went.
She said: “This tournament is clearly becoming a prestigious event for the young players, who were all so happy to get invited.
“We even got requests for players to take part this year.”
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