Matthew Asciak and Rosanne Dimech have won the men’s and ladies’ titles respectively at the Malta Open Tennis Championships, held at the Marsa Sports Club and sanctioned by the Malta Tennis Federation (MTF).

Following in his father Gordon Asciak’s footsteps, Matthew underlined his status as the country’s leading player after retaining the Gatorade Malta Open title.

The 24-year-old Asciak, who claimed his first Malta cham-pionship at the age of 15, overcame Miguel Rico-Bernabe 6-0 6-0, Zac Ciappara 6-0 6-0 and Bradley Callus 6-0 6-1 on his way to the final.

Denzil Agius was Asciak’s opponent in the decider but the match was a one-sided affair as the reigning champion prevailed 6-0 6-0.

For his part, Agius reached the final after wins over Julian Sammut 6-0 6-0, Domenico Scordo 6-0 7-5 and Mark Gatt 2-6 7-5 6-0.

In the women’s event, Dimech started off with a 6-0 6-2 victory over Brenda Galea before overpowering Valerija Holomjova 6-0 6-0 in the semis.

In the final, Dimech trailed to Katrina Sammut 2-6 3-4 but she managed to turn the match around to clinch the title against the 15-year-old and the no.1 seed, 2-6 7-5 6-3.

Sammut produced an excellent performance but Dimech got into her stride as the match progressed.

The improving Sammut beat Steffi Sullivan 6-2 6-1 and Giorgia Farrugia Sacco 6-0 6-0 to make it to the final for the second consecutive year.

Elaine Genovese, last year’s champion, did not defend her title.

Doubles event

Asciak and Callus retained the men’s doubles title after a 6-2 6-4 win over Agius and Gatt in the final.

Godwin Borg, the chairman of the Marsa Tennis Section, and David Farrugia Sacco, president of the MTF, distributed the trophies to the winners and runners-up.