JUAN Los Santos made a return to competitive tennis with an impressive victory on the opening day of the National Circuit third leg at the National Tennis Centre (NTC) in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.
Los Santos, who turns 18 in June, proved he had not lost his touch by hammering Hidayat Hashim 6-0, 6-0 in just over an hour in the first round.
The youngster left the scene abruptly after losing in three sets to national number one Si Yew Ming in the quarter-finals of last December’s National Hardcourt Championships.
“It feels good to be back. I really enjoyed my first round match. I did not really give up tennis. I just wanted a break from the sport,” said Los Santos at NTC yesterday.
“I am now motivated to go all the way. My aim is to get serious and hopefully I will be ready to play in the Futures (lower tier competition for professional players) soon.”
Los Santos, who last year was among the top 150 ranked junior players in the world, will lead the Selangor team in next month’s Malaysia Games in Kuala Lumpur.
“I was in two minds to return to the game before Selangor coach (S.) Selvarajoo coaxed me in giving it another try. It is too early to say whether I would be ready for top level tennis but I am definitely hoping to play in the ATP Tour Malaysian Open this year,” added Los Santos.
The opening day of the third leg saw no upsets as all the seeded players safely negotiated the opening two rounds of the men’s singles. Yew Ming and Abd Hazli Zainuddin are the top two seeds in the event.
