Dubai: Timea Visontai wants to make full use of the opportunity thrown her way after she advanced to the second round of the 15th Dubai ITF Junior Championships being played at the Dubai Tennis Stadium.
The Hungarian, whose mother Andrea Temesvari held the world No. 7 ranking way back in 1984, has been given a wild card this week. On Tuesday, the 15-year-old advanced to the next stage of the girls singles with a well-contested 7-6 (6), 6-0 win against Indian qualifier Salsa Aher.
The result was also her first-ever win on the ITF Junior Circuit after having started playing a little more than six months ago. “This is such an awesome experience for me. And to win my first-ever singles match on the ITF in a lovely place like Dubai seems like a dream to me at the moment,” Timea Visontai told Gulf News.
“For one, this win gives me a tremendous boost to my confidence,” she added.
Her next opponent will be Russia’s Zoziya Kardava, winner of last week’s Fujairah Junior Cup held at the Fujairah Tennis and Country Club. Showing signs of fatigue, Kardava had advanced to the second round with a hard-fought 7-6 (11), 6-0 win over Nino Nasibyan of Georgia.
“Honestly, I have nothing to lose. I have justified the wild card. Now that I have come this far, I will give my best and see how far I can go here and make this tournament an even better memory,” she added.
Joining the wild card in the next round will be two qualifiers, Ekaterina Vinnik from Russia and Dasha Lopatetskaya from the Ukraine. Vinnik defeated Germany’s Lara Schmid 6-0, 6-2, while Lopatetskaya upset sixth seed Ayca Erturk by an identical scoreline.
Action continues daily at the side courts of Dubai Tennis Stadium till the finals on Saturday evening.
