Tournament officials hailed the efforts of 14-year-old Hana Mortagy, the unseeded Egyptian who had a stunning run at the 11th UAE Dubai ITF Junior Championships to capture the Girls’ singles title at the Aviation Club last weekend.
Mortagy, who took out four seeds including the top-seeded Olga Sharypova en route to the title, was described as a surprise package of the tournament by ITF supervisor and Tennis Emirates events and marketing manager, Hany El Khafief, who said it was a phenomenal effort by the North African.
“Hana was a great surprise,” El Khafief told Sport360°. “The dark horse of the tournament without a doubt. Her draw was very difficult and I can’t believe she won the whole thing. She is the first Arab to win the Dubai Junior ITF whether in singles or in doubles, so it really is a great achievement.”
El Khafief was also glad with the overall level of competition in this year’s edition, saying it was the strongest field they ever had.
“For Tennis Emirates, we are very happy with the level of the tournament this year,” he said. “We had such a high number of international ranked players that seven players who flew in to Dubai didn’t get a chance to play because we already had too many players who were ranked pretty high.
“Athe same time, because of that high level, none of our local players could get in the draw without a wildcard. Which is also why they all lost in the first round as it was a tough draw,” explained El Khafief.
“In the girls draw, this was the first time we had 20 girls in qualifying. Usually we barely have enough to fill up the main draw but this year we had a qualifying draw as well.”
El Khafief also highlighted the efforts of Qatar’s Jabor Al Mutawa, who made the Boys’ singles quarterfinals, giving credit to the Qatar Tennis Federation (QTF), who have been supporting the 18-year-old.
He said: “Qatar is investing a lot in Jabor Al Mutawa. He lives and trains in the States and goes to a boarding school there, and all this is sponsored by the QTF, and he really deserves it.
“Here in the UAE, we now have our eyes on Fares Al Janahi. He’s an Under-13 player and was selected by the ITF to be on the West Asia U-14 ITF touring team. The ITF will pay for his travels and competitions, but he needs the support from UAE so he can improve.”
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