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| 07 Feb 2012 | |
| Kenyan, Nikita Dawda makes locals proud |
It was a week filled with beautiful sunny days and pleasant surprises that saw Italian qualifier, Tommaso Evangelisti, take the boys’ singles title and Nikita Dawda fly the Kenyan flag high into the girls singles final.
The tournament which was the first of three hosted by the Kenya Lawn Tennis Association at the Nairobi Club was partly financed by the Grand Slam Development Fund and saw participation from 99 players from 29 countries.
Evangelisti was an alternate on the boys’ entry list and had left Italy armed only with his racquets and a spirit of hope that he would play the tournament. He signed in on-site and was fortunate enough to get into the qualifying draw. Once fate handed him the lucky entry card, he was unstoppable and marched through the qualifying rounds and on to win the boys’ singles final. He beat 4th seeded Julian Turosienski (POL) 64 60 in the finals.
The girls’ singles draw created a ripple of excitement as Kenyans followed Nikita Dawda’s run into the finals. Through long, tough but thrilling matches, the Kenyan media trailed her progress and Dawda had Kenyans cheering her on all over. The dream journey finally came to a halt when Anastasiya Shestakova (UKR) ended Dawda’s thrilling run taking the match 75 61.
In other results, Sherif Abohabaga (EGY) and Christiaan Van Der Burgh (RSA) paired up to take the boys doubles title after beating Cypriots Marcos Asvestas and Michail Pervolarakis 60 62 while Shestakova, partnered by Ann-Christin Nilsson (GER), made it a double victory, winning the doubles final 57 75 119 against Dawda and Joanna-Nena Savva (CYP).
For full results from the tournament please visit the ITF Juniors website: http://www.itftennis.com/juniors/
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