Matthew Asciak last week took part in another ITF World Ranking tournament, called the Aphrodite Cup, in Limassol, Cyprus.

The young Maltese player, who is sponsored by German airline Lufthansa, made it all the way to the semi-finals in the singles event and the final of the doubles.

In the first two rounds of the singles, Asciak beat Russia's Alexander Belov 6-2 6-1 and the no.1 U-16 player from Cyprus, Evgenios Theodorou, 6-2 6-1.

After a 6-4 6-1 win over Germany's Tobias Fanselow in the quarter-finals, Asciak went down to Dean Georgiou, Cyprus's no. 1 ranked player in the tournament, 7-6 6-2.

The tiebreak in the first set was extremely close, Asciak losing it 14-12 after missing out on five set points. The final was eventually won by Russia's Belov following a close 7-6 6-7 6-4 victory over Georgiou.

In the doubles event, Asciak was partnered by Thomas Deighton, from England. After being awarded a walkover in the first round, Asciak and Deighton defeated the Greek pair of Androutselis and Malawos 6-2 6-2 in the second round.

In the semis, they recorded a 6-3 6-3 win over Singh (India) and Hantke (Poland) but lost the final to Grund (Czech Republic) and Belov (Russia) after a very close match, 7-6 6-4.

Asciak's fine showing in Cyprus is certain to improve his current ranking of 442. Early next month, Asciak is due to compete in an ITF world ranking tournament in Dubai.

Malta Open Tennis Championships

Meanwhile, the Malta Open Tennis Championships 2006, sponsored by Gatorade, commenced last Saturday.

The Championships, sanctioned by the Malta Tennis Federation, are once again being held at the Marsa Sports Club. Matthew Asciak, the current singles and doubles champion, is back in Malta to defend his titles. In the doubles event, Asciak will be partnered by Mattia Pecotic. The finals will be held next Saturday.