Ali Thameem
Naba Nishan has made a comeback to defeat third-seed Charlotte Perks in the girls’ singles quarterfinals of the ITF Maldives Junior Open Week 2.
Naba won it by taking the game into three sets. Charlotte, a 16-year-old British player who is among the top 1000 junior tennis players in the world, was the third-highest-seeded player in the girls’ draw.
The quarterfinals started this morning at the National Tennis Courts in Male’. The first two sets of Naba’s game ended 6-4 and 3-6. Although Naba lost the first set, she overcame the Brit in the next two. The third set was decided by 4-6 in Naba’s favour.
The 15-year-old local tennis star was one of the two Maldivians who made it to the quarterfinals. Aaaraa Aasal Azim, 17, faced Tamara Ermakova of Kazakhstan in this morning’s quarterfinals. Tamara, the second-seeded player, won the game 7-5, 6-7, and 6-2.
Naba will face the top seed, Tarita Hongsyok of Thailand in the semifinals tomorrow morning. Tarita is the doubles partner of Aaraa. The two have won the doubles event on Week-1 of the ITF Maldives Junior Open, and have now qualified for the girls’ doubles semifinals of Week 2.
