Malek Jajiri

By Abdellatif Sharaa

KUWAIT: Tunisia's top tennis player Malek Jajiri continued his winning streak in the Arab Masters Tournament being held at Sheikh Jaber Al-Abdallah Al-Jaber Al-Sabah International Tennis Complex, as he defeated Syria's Rabei Sleem in his first match that was held on Wednesday night 6-1-6-1, then in his second match that was held yesterday morning he defeated Qatar's Mubarak Zayed 6-2-6-2. Syria's Mohammad Hazim defeated Saudi Arabia's Ammar Al-Haqbani 6-3-6-3.

Kuwait's National team players Abdulhameed Jumaa reached last 16 by defeating Saudi Arabia's Sulaiman Al-Qasem 6-3-6-1, while his compatriot Talal Antar defeated Libya's Mohammad Al-Mahdi 6-0-6-0. Essa Qabazard lost to Algerian Toufik Sahtali 6-4-5-7-6-1, while Ali Al-Shatti lost to Egypt's Amr Mohamed 6-2-6-1, and Bader Antar lost to Jordan's Mousa Kotb 7-5-6-2. Competitions of the Arab Masters will continue into the quarter finals today (Friday), while the semi finals will be tomorrow for singles and doubles. The finals will be played on Sunday evening.

Faleh Al-Otaibi

Meanwhile WTA's 7th ranked player Ons Jabeur will arrive tomorrow afternoon and will attend the finals on Sunday. Ons has the best world ranking for an Arab player at (7). Kuwait Tennis Federation (KTF) Secretary General, Tournament Director Faleh Al-Otaibi said the organizing committee completed all preparations for the closing ceremony in cooperation with many government and private agencies adding "we are seeking a ceremony that will have many surprises that will match the game's stars and what Sheikh Jaber Al-Abdallah Al-Jaber Al-Sabah International Tennis Complex represents as it is among the best in the world".

Al-Otaibi lauded the levels the tournament had seen, adding that preliminaries of the masters had many competitive matches, and that the level is going higher and higher as those expected to win advanced. He said we hope Kuwait players to get good results in singles and doubles. Deputy Chairman of Arab Tennis Federation, Chairman of Jordan's Federation Hazem Adas said Sheikh Jaber Tennis Complex is among the best in the world and will be a launching pad of Arab tennis. He said ATF has a development plan for tennis to enhance Arab player's levels through hosting tournaments in the future.