Asciak reaches Uganda semi-final

Matthew Asciak reached the semi-final of the $10,000 ITF Futures tournament played in Kampala, Uganda, last week.

Thanks to his exploits, Asciak went on to gain another five precious ATP points and now he has eight to his tally. His ranking will improve considerably from no. 1,354 when the new list is issued by the ITF.

Malta champion Asciak reached the last four after coming through the qualifying rounds of the competition.

In fact, to make the main draw in Uganda, the 19-year-old beat Rwanda's Jean-Claude Gasigwa 6-1 6-2.

In the first round, Asciak eliminated Iran player Mohammed Mohazebnia 6-3 7-5 before playing top Uganda player Duncan Mugabe, the no.6 seed in the tournament.

The New Vision newspaper ran the headline 'Maltese shocks Mugabe at Logogo' following Asciak's brilliant straight sets win over the home favourite.

Asciak, who played at the clays courts of Lugogo four years ago in the Davis Cup, beat Mugabe 6-4 6-4 to register his most significant win in Futures tournament up to that point.

"I feel great winning here and reaching the quarter-finals of the Futures for the first time," Asciak was quoted as saying after beating Mugabe.

"Mugabe is a good player and he played well. His serve and back-hand was a problem but I am glad I battled my way out."

Another positive result was to follow for Asciak as in the quarter-final he had the better of the no.4 seed, Alexandre Folie, 6-2 7-6.

Folie, of Belgium, played for his country in the European U-18 Championships last year in Austria. He is currently ranked no. 689.

Asciak, however, ran out of steam in the semi-final when he was beaten 6-3 6-3 by Bagdan Leonte, of Romania.

Leonte was seeded no.2. He lost the final to France's Philippe de Bonnevie, the top seed, 6-4 6-2.

Meanwhile, following his impressive run in Kampala, Asciak was awarded a wild card entry into the main draw of another ITF Futures tournament in Nairobi, Kenya, starting tomorrow.