ISLAMABAD - Pakistan’s lone international tennis star Ushna Suhail stormed into the Begum Kalsoom Saifullah Memorial ATT Tennis Championship 2016 ladies singles final after thumping former Pakistan No 1 Sarah Mehboob Khan in three set semifinal played here at Senator Dilawar Abbas PTF Tennis Complex on Friday.
It was mouth-watering clash between Ushna and Sarah, where Ushna once again proved her superiority despite going one-set down, but she never showed any sign of weakness and staged one of the remarkable comebacks of all times. It was Sarah, who settled down well in the first set, as Ushna was struggling to cope with windy conditions. Sarah raced onto take 4-1 lead, before Ushna reduced the gap to 2-4, but it was all Ushna could get, as Sarah took the first set 6-3 in 25 minutes.
After losing first set, Ushna started to play his natural and aggressive game from the baseline and her powerful serves made the difference. Ushna completely outclassed Sarah as she broke her 2nd, 4th and 6th serves to take the second set 6-1 in just 22 minutes. In the third set, Sarah was seemingly out of gas and hardly able to move freely, while on the other hand, high-flying Ushna went out all-out attacking and shut the doors on Sarah, winning the set 6-1 in 21 minutes to complete a memorable victory and set final date with Sara Mansoor. In the other semifinal of the day, Pakistan No 1 player Sara Mansoor outclassed Mehak Khokhar in straight sets. Sara faced stiff resistance at the hands of Mehak in the first set and it was only the 10th game, when Sara finally managed to break down Mehak’s serve and then held onto her own serve to take the first set 6-4. It was all Sara in the second set as she clinched it 6-0 without any resistance.
In the boy’s U-18 singles, Pakistan No 1 junior player Muzammil Murtaza brushed aside M Shoaib 6-1 and 6-2 to set final date with Yousaf Khan, who upset second seed Aman Attique in three hard-fought sets. Yousaf won the first set 6-4, before Aman bouncing back in style, winning the set 6-1. Yousaf also staged a strong comeback and won the third and deciding set 6-4 to register victory. M Shoaib beat Hamza Bin Rehan in straight sets to win the boys’ U-14 title.