After an absence of three years, the Marsa Open was held recently thanks to MSV Life who signed an agreement to sponsor the tournament for three years.
Matthew Asciak and Elaine Genovese dominated the singles events.
Asciak, 24, overcame Ben Farrugia 6-0 6-0, Raphael Sammut 6-1 6-1 and in the semi-final he eliminated Matthew Cassar Torregiani 6-0 6-0.
In the final, Asciak, Open champion for the past 10 years, prevailed over Bernard Cassar Torregiani 6-2 6-1.
Cassar Torregiani, 18, produced a commendable performance in the final and the sizeable crowd present appreciated his efforts against the more experienced Asciak.
On the way to the final, Cassar Torregiani eliminated Miguel Galea 6-1 6-1, Denzil Agius 6-3 6-1 and Bradley Callus 6-3 6-1.
Genovese dominated the ladies’ final, overpowering her young opponent Alina Shcherbinina, from Russia.
Shcherbinina, who has been training at the Gordon Asciak Tennis School for the past four years, impressed one and all and was definitely the surprise package of this year’s tournament at Marsa.
Genovese, 24, beat Georgina Farrugia Sacco 6-0 6-0 in the semi-final and in the last four Shcherbinina defied the odds when beating Malta’s no.2 player Katrina Sammut 6-4 7-5.
The Russian trailed 4-1 in the first set but her different array of strokes and the ability to change the game at the right moment unsettled Sammut to eventually win in straight sets.
Genovese, however, proved a difficult hurdle for Shcherbinina to overcome but she still succeeded in putting her more-quoted opponent under pressure at times.
In the end, Genovese beat Shcherbinina 6-1 6-2 in the title match.
Asciak underlined his status as the country’s leading playing by making it a double, winning the men’s doubles final when partnering Callus.
They dominated the tournament, disposing of B. Cassar Torregiani/M. Cassar Torregiani 6-2 6-1 and Miguel Galea/Nicky Sullivan 6-1 6-1 before outclassing Mark Gatt/Denzil Agius 6-0 6-1 in a one-sided final.
Attending the presentation at the end of the tournament was Norman Mifsud, representing MSV Life, Godwin Borg, chairman of the Marsa SC Tennis Section, and David Farrugia Sacco, the Malta Tennis Federation president.