Griekspoor clinches singles title

Manama : Top seed Scott Griekspoor from the Netherlands ranked 331 came from a set down to defeat third seeded Yannick Maden ranked 596 by 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 to clinch the men’s title on the concluding day of the ITF Futures Tennis Tournament at the Bahrain Tennis Club in Juffair.

While the women’s singles title went to sixth seed Tereza Mihaikova of Slovakia ranked 501 who defeated Russian seventh seed Anna Kalinskaya ranked 593 in straight sets 7-5, 6-1. In a two-hour battle, Griekspoor lost his opening service game in the first set and was soon playing catch-up against his German opponent and never really recovered after this early setback and trailed 3-1 after four games. The next four games then went with serve and Maden closed the set with a second break.

In the second set, the first four went with serve before Griekspoor effected the first break in the next game and clinched the set with a second break. 

In the deciding set, it was level at 3-3 with all games going to service, but the trend was broken in the eighth when Griekspoor won a vital break to effectively secure the title.

Meanwhile, Mihaikova took early advantage in the first set winning a break in the fourth game for a 3-1 lead but Kalinskaya won a break in the next and then levelled at 3-3.

The next five games all went with serve as Mihaikova held a slender 6-5 lead and avoid a tie-break when she effected a break for the set.

In second set action, Mihaikova won a break in the fourth game to lead 3-1 and then went on to take the next three games for the title in a match lasting around 90 minutes. Prior to yesterday finals an awarding and closing ceremony featuring the men’s and women’s doubles finals was attended by Hisham bin Mohammed Al Jowder - Minister of Youth and Sport Affairs, Saleh  Isa bin Hindi The King’s Advisor for Youth and Sports Affairs, Shaikh Mohamed bin Khalifa Al Khalifa  Chairman of BAPCO, Abdulla Bu Hindi Managing Director of Bahrain Duty Free, Yasser A.Rahim Alabbasi Plants Operation Manager of GPIC, Khalid bin Yousuf Janahi Chairman of Executive Committee of Solidarity, Mrs.Hatun Demirer Turkish Ambassador, Khamis Al Muqla President of BTC and Dr. Ali Fakhro Honorary President of BTC.