UAE’s Abdulrahman Al Janahi suffered a disappointing first-round loss to his good friend Kirksteen Rebuyas of the Philippines at the 11th UAE Dubai ITF Junior Championships.
The 17-year-old wildcard fell 6-1, 6-2 to Rebuyas, who is 676 in the junior world rankings – more than 1,000 spots higher than Al Janahi.
The pair have known each other since they were eight-years-old and are close friends, but Al Janahi says they enjoy playing each other and usually bring “the best in each other”. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case for the Emirati on Monday.
“For some reason I was missing the easy balls today,” said a disappointed Al Janahi after the straight-set loss. “When he played big shots I would use his power and put the ball back in play, but when I got the opportunity to do something, I kept missing.”
Abdulrahman’s cousin, Fatma Al Janahi, 17, did not fare much better in the girls’ draw as she succumbed to Egypt’s Ingy Hashish 6-3, 6-1 earlier on Court 1.
The Janahis are a common name amongst the local tennis scene in the UAE. Abdulrahman’s siblings and cousins have all been active on the ITF circuit with his 13-year-old brother Fares recently grabbing the silver medal at the ITF West Asia 13&U Development Championship in Oman.
Fares’ success saw him get selected by the ITF to represent West Asia in the forthcoming Asian 14 & under Championships (Division II) scheduled to be held in January 2013.
It is the first time in the history of UAE Tennis that an Emirati player has been selected for such an elite touring team.
Abdulrahman, who has been playing tennis for the past nine years, has one year left to compete on the junior circuit before he has to make a choice of going pro or dedicating his time to studying.
He says of his main goals in tennis: “I want to help the UAE qualify to Group II in Davis Cup and get a professional ranking – that’s a top priority right now.
“I’m thinking of going to university so that can be a problem. It’s probably going to get in the way of my tennis a bit. I’m thinking of travelling to the UK or the US, but studies come first.” Abdulrahman still has a chance in doubles on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Abu Dhabi resident Kareem Allaf of Syria made an early exit from the tournament, slumping to a 6-2, 6-4 defeat to Shota Meparidze of Georgia.
The top two seeds Sergis Kyratzis and Christos Hadjigeorgiou both advanced to the second round. However, No3 seed Omar Gamal El Din of Egypt, was the biggest casualty of the day as he fell 6-4, 6-2 to Russia’s Vasiliy Kraynikovskiy.
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