Archive
Double honours for Kimberly Cassar at TCK
19.07.2008
Our congratulations goes to Kimberly Cassar who captured the singes and doubles titles at this year's Tennis Europe Junior Ranking Tournament held at Tennis Club Kordin (TCK).
This year's girls singles final between local favourite Cassar and Italian Stefania Gattuso, saw a solid performance by Cassar who managed to control the match from the start, never allowing her opponent to gain the upperhand.
Despite a gallant effort from Gattuso, Cassar stamped her superiority during the final, winning in straight sets, 6-1, 6-3. With this first international junior title, Cassar has fulfilled a childhood dream which should augur well for her future. It was also a timely boost ahead of her participation in the European Championships, being held in Moscow this week.
In the doubles, Cassar and her partner Swiss player Janine Ruhstaller, beat Italian favourites Francesca Franco and Vincenza Ciraolo, in three sets 2-6, 6-2 6-0.
The tournament, organised by TCK in conjunction with the Malta Tennis Federation, and sponsored by San Michel, attracted a good number of players from 16 countries.
The presentation of trophies was made by David Farrugia Sacco, president of the Malta Tennis Federation.
GO PROAM Doubles Tournament
17.06.2008
The Malta Tennis Federation, in collaboration with GO, the federation’s official sponsor, is organising a PROAM doubles tournament on Sunday 29th June at the Marsa Sports Club.
This doubles tournament will involve Malta’s existing national players and a large number of ex-national players, many of which were local champions over the past twenty years of tennis in Malta. Gordon Asciak and his son Matthew, will in fact be the tournament’s oldest and one of the youngest players respectively.
The event will involve a draw of 16 teams and 32 players. The matches will be played on a feed in system were a doubles team would keep playing to place a position amongst the 16 doubles teams participating.
Some of the players taking part include the above mentioned Asciaks’, Chris Gatt, Daryl & Marcus Delicata, Marco Cappello, Steven Schranz, Matthew Debono, Luke Bonello, Philip Zarb Mizzi, Lisa Camenzuli, Carol Cassar Torreggiani, Steffi Pace, Rozanne Dimech and Elaine Genovese, amongst others.
Great tennis will be played and the general public is invited to attend.
Matches start at approximately 2.30pm.
Play and Stay Event organized by the Malta Tennis Federation
22.05.2008
The Malta Tennis Federation, in collaboration with GO and the Valletta Local Council, is organising a Play and Stay event this Saturday 24th May in Freedom Square. The objective of this event is to promote the sport of tennis in Malta and to invite the general public to experience and have a go at the game.
Malta’s national coach Rob Tarpey and ex-tennis champions Gordon Asciak and Carol Cassar Torregiani will be inviting all those interested in playing with some of Malta’s most promising junior tennis players.
Children or elders interested in having a try at tennis are invited to attend. The event is expected to begin at 9.30am and will end at approximately 1.30pm.
The Malta Tennis Federation would like to particularly thank its official sponsor GO, as well as other sponsors - Gasan Mamo and Farsons.
Junior Tennis Player selected for MOC Centre for Excellence Scheme
16.04.2008
Kimberley Cassar, 15, is one of 12 talented young athletes chosen from a nominee list of more than 60 athletes from various sport disciplines, who have been selected to form part of the Centre for Excellence Scheme which has just been launched by the Malta Olympic Committee (MOC) and which is sponsored by GO.
The new scheme is a long term initiative aimed at supporting and developing promising local athletes with the aim of improving their performances in international tournaments. Apart from financial assistance, athletes will also benefit from extra support services in order to help them upgrade their level. The certificates were presented to the12 athletes by Justice Dr Lino Farrugia Sacco, MOC President.
Kimberley has just competed in an ITF U-18 world ranking tournament held at the Marsa Sports Club where she made it to the final, losing to German girl Sekulic, and to the semi finals in the doubles. On the way to the singles final she beat opponents from Poland, Italy, Slovenia and Serbia. Following this excellent performance she has now improved her ITF world ranking from 715 to 501.
Top Under 14 Juniors Participate in 2008 ITF/Tennis Europe Development Championships
06.04.2008
Bernard Cassar Torreggiani (11 years) and Brenda Galea (13 years) are Malta's top Under 14 champions who have been selected by the Malta Tennis Federation to represent Malta in Tennis Europe's Development Championships being held in Bulgaria between the 8th and 17th April.
18 countries will be participating including a number of strong players from Serbia, Armenia, Belarus, Lithunia, Estonia, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Moldova, Iceland, Latvia, Macedonia, Georgia and others. Each Country will be represented by the No.1 player of each country.
Past players who have won the tournament include Marcos Bagdatis who is one of the top 10 tennis players currently in the world.
The 16 most promising players will be invited to take part in the ITF/Tennis Europe 14 & Under Touring Teams in Europe this summer.
Through the help and support of the Malta tennis Federation, our top players will play a number of games against tough competition and gain plenty of experience from participation in such an event.
This coming summer, the Federation is planning to send all top juniors in each category to participate in various tournaments overseas.
The Malta Tennis Federation would like to particularly thank its sponsors, Gasan Mamo and the Malta Tourism Authority, without whose support participation in the above tournament would not have been possible. Furthermore, the Federation would also like to thank the Maltese Olympic Committee for its help and support.
Malta ITF Under 18 Tournament comes to an end
29.03.2008
Today the Malta ITF Under 18 World Ranking Tennis Tournament held at the Marsa Sports Club came to an end. It was a week of high level quality tennis with the Maltese main protagonists obtaining very good results.
Unfortunately in the boys finals, Matthew Asciak lost to Dutch player Eleveld, ranked 260 in the world before winning this tournament. Eleveld was in better form to beat the local champion 6-4 6-1, after trailing 4-2 in the first set. This is the second final in Malta that Matthew has reached. He had previously won the ITF Juniors’ tournament held in Malta in 2006.
In the girls final, Kimberley Cassar lost to Sekulic from Germany 6-3 6-0. Kimberley despite having a great tournament was unable to make a comeback in the second set.
In the doubles event Matthew Asciak and Klimchev from Russia lost in the Semi Finals 6-2 6-3 against the no.1 seeds Al Mousa from Kuwait and Hejhal from Austria. In the girls Semi Finals Elaine Genovese and Kimberley Cassar lost in a close encounter to Furlanetto and Rubini from Italy 7-6 6-3. In the finals of the boys doubles Al Mousa and Hejhal moved on to win the event, whilst Gibson and Bayliss from Great Britain cinched the title in the girls finals against the Italians.
This week proved well for Malta tennis players as it is the first time in history that both a boy and a girl reached an ITF final in the same tournament. Besides Matthew and Kimberley, other Maltese players who reached the finals of the Malta ITF Junior tournament are Rozanne Dimech and Sarah Wetz.
This tournament was sponsored by Gasan Mamo, the Malta Tourism Authority and Farsons.
A great day for Malta tennis with Matthew Asciaq and Kimberly Cassar through to the Finals
28.03.2008
Today was a tough day for the Maltese players. In the quarter finals played in the morning, Matthew beat A. Hewitt of Great Britain 7-6 6-1, whilst Kimberly beat Kovac of Slovenia 2-6 6-2 and won following Kovac’s retiring due to a muscle injury. Elaine Genovese unfortunately lost in the Quarter Finals on Thursday.
Following the Quarter Finals, the Maltese girls, Elaine and Kimberly, beat Seateun of France and Madill of Ireland, 6-2 6-2 to reach the Semi Finals. Matthew and his Russian partner Klimchev beat Starc and Polanec both from Slovenia, 6-1 6-3, to also reach the Semi Finals.
In the afternoon, Kimberley Cassar showed great form against Kurovic of Serbia in the singles Semi Finals. Kimberly beat her opponent in two close sets 7-6 7-5. She is the first Maltese female player to reach a final in an ITF Junior Tournament against Sekulic of Germany.
Matthew had a tough game played over three sets against the tournament No.2 seed Paciello of Italy. Matthew showed great consistency and excellent form to beat Paciello 6-7 6-4 6-1. Matthew will tomorrow be playing his second ITF final against the No.1 seed Eleveld of the Netherlands.
The general public is invited to attend to give its support to our local players in the Finals of this prestigious tournament. Both the boys and girls finals will be played tomorrow Saturday at 10am. Entrance is free. This tournament is being sponsored by Gasan Mamo, the Malta Tourism Authority and Farsons.
Maltese Players Storm into Quarter Finals
26.03.2008
A second consecutive good day for all the Maltese tennis players taking part in the ITF Under 18 tournament being held at the Marsa Sports Club. Matthew Asciak and Kimberley Cassar, having played and won their first match in the second round thanks to their seeding, both join in the Quarter Finals tomorrow Thursday 27th March, Elaine Genovese who also won her third round match today.
On Tuesday, Matthew beat M. Brunner from Austria 6-0 6-2, Kimberley Cassar beat B. Agata from Poland 7-5 6-1 and Elaine Genovese beat M. Furlanetto from Italy 6-0 6-2, in her second match of the tournament.
Matthew had an excellent start to the tournament comfortably beating his opponent in the first set and neutralizing any attempts of a comeback in the second round. Kimberley fought out hard in the first set and then comfortably beat her opponent in the second. Elaine continued with her great form, winning in two sets to enter the third round.
In the third round of games today, Matthew Asciak had another excellent game, beating G. De Lovinfosse of Belgium (no.5 seed of tournament) 6-4 6-0, whilst Kimberley Cassar and Elaine Genovese both fought hard to beat their opponents in three sets. Kimberley beat E. Bertoia of Italy 4-6 7-5 6-3 and Elaine beat C.Wischhoff of the Netherlands 6-7 7-6 6-4.
In the doubles, Clayton Zammit partnered with Piccioli from Italy on Tuesday to beat Franceso Galea and Le Goeff from France, but lost in the second round today. Elaine Genovese and Kimberley Cassar together beat the Turks, Sezer and Tugce in three sets on Tuesday and the Irish McCullogh and Bowtell today. Matthew Asciak played his first doubles match with Klimchev of Russia and together they beat Cochrane and Hewitt from Great Britain.
Tomorrow the Quarter Finals singles should see Matthew Asciak play against A. Hewitt of Great Britain, Kimberley Cassar play against Kovac of Slovenia and Elaine Genovese play Sekulic of Germany (no. 7 seed of tournament).
In the Quarter Finals doubles, Matthew and Klimchev will play against Starc and Polanec both from Slovenia, whilst Kimberley and Elaine will play against Seateun of France and Madill of Ireland.
The general public is again invited to attend to give its support to our local players in the third round. Entrance is free. This tournament is being sponsored by Gasan Mamo, the Malta Tourism Authority and Farsons.
Elaine Genovese Advances to 2nd Round
24.03.2008
Elaine Genovese beat Caterina Decarli from Italy in two sets 6-2 6-2, at the ITF Under 18 Tournament being held at the Marsa Sports Club. She now plays against the 14th seed Martina Furlanetto from Italy. Clayton Zammit lost in a close encounter against C. Fitzgerald 6-7 4-6. Omar Sudzuka, Matthew Booker, Alexia Valenzia and Francesco Galea faced tough opposition and lost their first game.
Tomorrow, Tuesday 25th, the second round of play commences at 9am. Elaine will be joined by Matthew Asciak, Malta’s Champion, who plays M. Brunner from Austria and Kimberley Cassar, Malta’s top female seed in the tournament, who faces B. Agata from Poland.
The second round of singles matches will also be accompanied by the first round of doubles matches.
The general public is invited to attend and to give its support to our local players. Entrance is free. This tournament is being sponsored by Gasan Mamo, the Malta Tourism Authority and Farsons.
Top Maltese Players in Action
23.03.2008
Tomorrow Monday 24th, Malta’s top players will be in action in the main draw of the ITF Under 18 World Ranking Tennis Tournament being held at the Marsa Sports Club sanctioned by the Malta Tennis Federation. In the boys, Matthew Asciak seeded no. 9 in the main draw with an ITF World ranking of 539 will be in action on Tuesday having a bye and will face the winner of the match between K. Orlov from Russia (WR 1,298) and M.Brunner from Austria (WR 718). In action on Monday, Omar Sudzuka u16 Malta Champion will face G. Gilhawley (WR 1,358) from Ireland, Clayton Zammit will face C.Fitzgerald (WR 1,764) also from Ireland, whilst Francesco Galea, presently living in Germany will face Daniel Spurny (WR 1,142) from Germany. Matthew Booker being a lucky loser in the qualifying will face Antonio Terzo from Italy.
In the girls event, Kim Cassar with a world ranking of 718 and seeded no.8 in the main draw will be in action on Tuesday having a bye in the first round. Elaine Genovese Malta’s current champion and Alexia Valenzia will play tomorrow Monday.
Matches start at 9am. The general public is invited to attend and to give its support to our local players. Entrance is free.
Asciak plays in Denmark
18.02.2008
Malta champion Matthew Asciak took part in another ITF junior ranking tournament in Copenhagen last week.
In the first round, Asciak, sponsored by Lufthansa, beat Ricardo Elsink, of Holland, 7-6 6-1. However, he was eliminated in the next round after a 6-3 6-2 upset to no.5 seed Jonatan Kidane, of Sweden.
In doubles, Asciak was partnered by Rasmus Schwarz, of Denmark. They did well in the opening round to oust Italians Vierin and Maiorano 6-3 6-1. Vierin was the losing finalist in the singles event.
Asciak and Schwarz made it to the semi-finals after beating Spaniards Santos/Vazques 7-6 6-1 but were denied a spot in the final by Berta/Kidane.
The Swedes made it to the final after a 7-6 6-3 victory.
ITF Junior Tournament
11.01.2008
Marsa Sports Club to host ITF Junior Tournament on the 22nd March under the auspecies of the Malta Tennis Federation.
Entries and Withdrawals are accepted from National Tennis Associations only. Players must be listed in ranking order.
No direct entries or withdrawals by players or clubs will be considered.
All players who play on the ITF Junior Circuit must have an IPIN and pay the annual IPIN Membership Fee.
