Former Davis Cup star Peter Wessels confirmed his status as the best tennis player in the region by winning the Abu Dhabi Wilson Tennis Cup Men’s Open title at Zayed Sports City today.
34-year-old Wessels,
once ranked in the top 70 players in the world, beat longstanding rival Omar Behroozian
in straight sets 6-1, 7-6 on Court One at the International Tennis Centre.
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| Peter Wessels |
Local hero
Behroozian showed great spirit to win the first three games of the second set but,
in the end, Wessel's powerful serve and craft at the net in the decisive tie
break were too much for the UAE player who has now been defeated by the
Dutchman in the last three Finals in which the two have met.
PSS-Emirates
coach Wessels was also helped by the partisan 'home' crowd - the PSS-Emirates
team are based at Zayed Sports City.
After his
victory, Wessels, said: "It was very tough today. Matches against Omar are
always tough, even when I win in two sets. Physically for me, this was the
toughest Final I have played against him. I was really struggling out there,
but I made it and I am very happy.
"I have
a few players who I can hit with and that keeps me in shape, but not like Omar
who still hits very well from the baseline and I really have to work hard for
it," said Wessels, who also claimed the Mixed Doubles title with
PSS-Emirates colleague Feline Charlot.
Behroozian
also picked up an award, winning the Men’s Doubles with partner Dale Fawcett. The
ladies title was won by Magali De Lattre, who beat Dragana Zaric in a gripping
Final.
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| Omar Behroozian |
An awards
ceremony after the finals brought to a
close a fantastic two weeks of tennis at Zayed Sports City during which time 495
players, from 7-year-olds to open age, competed in the UAE's biggest amateur
tennis event.
The awards
were presented by Barry Bremner, General Manager at Zayed Sports City, who
expressed his desire to build on the success of this year¹s Wilson Tennis Cup:
"We
have been delighted with the response from throughout the UAE and we hope to
make this event even more popular in future years," he said.
"Zayed
Sports City occupies a unique position within
the community and we see it as a cornerstone of our organisation to
encourage local people to play sport and adopt a healthy lifestyle. It is
events like the Abu Dhabi Wilson Tennis Cup which ensure we achieve this goal.
"I
would like to congratulate all the winners in each of the categories, but
everyone who took part deserves credit for making the first Abu Dhabi Wilson
Tennis Cup such a success.The standard of tennis in both the youth and adult
sections was extremely high and reflects the potential of players within the
UAE. I would like to thank sponsors Wilson, co-organisers PSS-Emirates and the
Abu Dhabi Sports Council and Tennis Emirates for their support."
WINNERS:
Men's Open: Peter
Wessels
Ladies Open:
Magali De Lattre
Men's
Singles 45+: Pierre Rives
Men's
Singles 35+: Brij Menon
Ladies'
Singles 30+: Beauty MacLeod
Men's
Doubles: Omar Behroozian + Dale Fawcett
Men's
Doubles 35+: Amr Hazem + Bart Kendall
Ladies'
Doubles: Rai Sengupta + Dragana Zaric
Ladies'
Doubles 30+: Inka Stever + Elsbeth Maex-Maris
Mixed
Doubles 30+: Willem Verhaert + Elsbeth Maex-Maris
Mixed
Doubles: Peter Wessels + Feline Charlot
Boys an
girls U7: Rya
Boys and
girls U9: Arthur
Boys and girls U10: Anurag
Boys U12: Viktor Jovic
Boys U14: Karim Najia
Boys U16: Mujahid Khan
Boys U18: Thomas Linge
Girls U12: Angel MacLeod
Girls U14: Rai Sengupta
Girls U16: Emelie Schwarte
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