Matthew Asciak fares well in prestigious US tournament

Matthew Asciak returned to Malta this week from Miami, Florida where he participated in the prestigious junior tournament, The Orange Bowl.

Asciak was unlucky to be drawn against US no.1 player Kecki Mateusz who beat the Maltese player 6-1 6-1.

The young Maltese player then competed in a new draw for all the 100 juniors who failed to qualify for the quarter-finals of the main draw. Here, Asciak did extremely well, reaching the fourth round.

After being awarded a walk-over in the first round, Asciak then beat top German player Cedrik Stebe 6-0 6-1. Stebe was one of two German players in the US and had managed to win his opening match in the main draw.

In the third round, Asciak won 6-1 6-1 against Japan's Shuichi Sekiguchi who defeated a top American player in the previous round.

Magin Ortiga, of Colombia, the world's no.8 player was Asciak's opponent in the fourth round. The Maltese youngster performed well and only lost 6-4 6-3 in a two-and-a-half hour match.

The tournament was an excellent experience for Asciak as only the best players in the world are chosen to take part.