KUCHING: Sarawak tennis ace Mohd Assri Merzuki will be seeking his first Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) singles ranking points in India next month.
Sarawak Lawn Tennis Association (SLTA) president Dato Patrick Liew said yesterday that Assri, who turned 18 years old last month, has been entered to play in 3 back-to-back Men’s Futures events in Chennai, Madurai and Trichy from Feb 25 to Mar 17.
Describing the three events as very tough and highly competitive, Liew said Assri may have to play in the qualifiers to get to the main draw.
“I have called Asian Tennis Federation (ATF) president Anil Khanna to get a wild card entry for Assri and hopefully he can play in the main draw,” he added.
“All the top 300 ranked players will be there including some very good Indian players.”
On Assri’s readiness to face challenges in the men’s competition, Liew said: “ Physically, he is very strong and he is free from injury. He is also prepared mentally. He will need to be very strong both physically and mentally to play against the men,” added Liew.
He said Assri’s performance for the first months would be very important for SLTA to assess his capability and make adjustments for him.
“I am quite confident he can stand up to the challenge and repay the time and money that we have invested to groom him into a top calibre player,” he said.
The only Sarawakian player now who has one ATP point is national junior singles number one Ariez Elyaas Deen Hesham.
The SLTA president said he is negotiating with Lawn Tennis Association of Malaysia with the hope of hosting three events in the US$10,000 category in Kuching this year.
“Hopefully that will materialise in the third quarter of the year. Our intention is to provide a platform
for players like Assri and Ariez as well as a few other upcoming players in Semenanjung Malaysia to play at a higher level,” said Liew.- www.theborneopost.com
