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The Qatar Tennis Federation (QTF)-organised 2nd Qatar ITF Futures 2013 got underway at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex yesterday. |
The tournament, which will run till April 13, 2013, will see Jordi Samper-Montana of Spain return as the No. 1 seed. The 277-ranked Samper-Montana has won eight ITF Circuit singles titles, three in 2013 with the most recent being his championship win at the Bahrain F1 Futures.
After the 20-year-old’s shock first round defeat last week by eventual finalist, Daniel Cox of Great Britain, Samper-Montana will look to make amends this week.
India’s Yuki Bhambri is the second seed. The current world No 279 reached his highest ranking of 174 in October last year. As a junior, the now 20-year old, won the Australian boys’ singles title in 2009. He won his first pro event in 2012 at the ATP Challenger in Uzbekistan.
Ranked 283 in the world, Jules Marie of France is the tournament’s third seed. The 21-year old has won five ITF Futures titles, winning in Croatia and Portugal in 2013.
Last week’s champion, Marek Semjan of the Slovak Republic, is playing again as the event’s No 4 seed. He defeated unseeded Cox, 3-6, 7-6(4), 7-6(6) to win his second ITF title of the year and his fifth overall in his career.
Qatari players who have received a wildcard for the event include Abdulla al-Mohamoud, Mubarak al-Harrasi, and Jassem al-Zeyara. Sultan Khalfan al-Alawi won his second round of qualifying on Sunday in order to gain entry into the main draw.