Last week, Mark Gatt attained a series of commendable results on the Senior Tennis Tour at Frinton On Sea in the UK.

In the singles, Gatt beat Briton Oliver Focher 6-2 6-1 in his opening match which was closer than the scoreline suggests.

His next match was against another Briton, Nigel Hunter, ranked 159th in the over-35 world classification.

Gatt claimed the first set 7-5, getting the crucial break at 6-5. He was then leading his opponent 3-2 in the second set when the rain came down. His opponent decided to concede the match and Gatt was through to his first singles final on the senior tour.

The final was played on the main show court the next day. It was very windy and Gatt’s opponent, Briton Jonathan Downes (ranked no.24 in the O-35 category) was off to a great start as he mastered the conditions better than the Maltese player.

Gatt struggled to hold serve as he lost the first set 6-1. In the second set, Gatt improved his game. At 3-2 he got the break only to be broken straight back. The remaining games went with serve, meaning that the second set went to a tiebreak.

Gatt kept his cool in the tiebreak, winning it 7-4 to square the match.

He even broke his opponent’s serve at the start of the third set, going 3-1 up only to be pegged back. Gatt held serve to tie the match again at four-all but Downes won two games in a row and the title.

In the doubles, Gatt and Ryan Williams, from the UK, played very well in the semi-finals, beating Lebanese M. Debbane and Spain’s T. Geortzen 6-0,6-2

In the final, the Gatt/Williams pair faced experienced British duo Danny Ward and Michael Elames who prevailed 6-4 6-2.

Thanks to his efforts last week, Gatt has improved his ITF world ranking to 125 in singles (up 160 places) and 85 in doubles (up 45)

In a statement, Gatt thanked his sponsors Living Well for their continous support.