FINE DOUBLE: Assri poses with the trophies he won at the Trinidad and Tobago ITF Juniors (Grade 5) Tennis Tournament.
KUCHING: Mohd Assri Merzuki is on the right track to becoming a professional tennis player when he clinched a superb double victory at the Trinidad and Tobago ITF Juniors (Grade 5) Tennis Tournament recently.
The 17-year-old from Kuching, who is due to play in the professional men’s tournaments when he turns 18 on Dec 28 this year, won both the singles and doubles titles at the ITF event played at Shaw Park Tennis Facility from Aug 20-25.
Tournament second seeds Assri and his doubles partner from Canada, William Tutecky got past the first round when they beat Shakir Elvin-Sinan Orhon 6-2, 6-2.
They went on to defeat Franciso Bendana-Jualon Greg 7-6(2), 6-0 in the last eight and edged past Manuel Castellanos-Jose Olivares 3-6, 7-6(3) (10-8) in the last four before overcoming top seeds Matthew Hutchinson and Yannik James 2-6, 6-4 (10-4) in the final.
Assri and Tutecky then turned rivals in the boy’s singles final where top-seeded Assri won easily 6-0, 6-2.
En route to the final, Assri beat Semen Tripolskiy 7-5, 6-2 in the first round, disposed of Jean Thiroun 6-4, 6-3 in the last eight and sent Oscar Janlin packing 6-3, 6-2 in the semi-final.
“I played really well here, I won the tournament without dropping a set,” said Assri said.
His coach Doru Murariu planned this tournament as a preparation for the upcoming ITF Men’s Futures in Vietnam where Assri, still a junior, will compete in two of the three ITF Futures organised this month.