Matthew Asciak (right) receives his award from Bank of Valletta representatitve John Paul Abela.

Matthew Asciak has underlined his status as Malta’s leading tennis player after he successfully retained the BOV Men’s Masters Championship at Marsa Sports Club last week.

Asciak was the top seed in this end-of-year tournament that sees the participation of the country’s top eight players.

The first phase of the competition was played in a round robin format. Participants were split into two groups, with the top two players from each section progressing to the semi-finals.

Asciak broke little sweat to top Group One, defeating Miguel Galea 6-0, 6-0, Denzil Agius 6-1 6-0 and Mark Gatt 6-0 6-2.

Agius took the second quali-fying spot after beating the challenge of Gatt 4-6 6-1 6-2 in a tightly-fought encounter.

In Group Two, Bradley Callus claimed first place after winning his encounters with Matthew Cassar Torregiani (6-7 6-1 4-2 retired), Mark Schranz (6-2 6-2) and Raphael Sammut (6-3 6-2).

Sammut took the second quali-fying berth after bagging victories over Schranz (2-6 7-5 6-4) and Cassar Torregiani (6-4 7-6).

Straight-sets win

In the semi-finals, Asciak regi-stered another straight-sets victory in overcoming Sammut 6-2 6-3 while Callus had the better of Agius 7-5 6-2.

The final was played at the Gordon Asciak Tennis Academy Indoor Court at Marsa Sports Club. Asciak eased to a comfortable 6-1 6-2 victory to retain the title he won last year.

At the end of the final, John Paul Abela, Media and Community Relations Manager at Bank of Valletta, presented the trophies to the winner and runner-up in the presence of David Farrugia Sacco, president of the Malta Tennis Federation.

While congratulating Asciak and all the other participants in the tournament, Abela said: “It is a pleasure to see such dedication among the players, and also a sense of sportsmanship that was evident throughout the tournament.

“As a major supporter of sporting initiatives, Bank of Valletta is also pleased to extend its support to the Malta Tennis Federation and to see the level of this sport grow at both national and international levels.”