Mark Gatt moved up 64 places in the ITF world rankings for senior (over-35 players) after reaching the semi-finals at a singles tournament, held recently in Spain.

The tournament was classified Grade 2 and all matches were played on clay.

Gatt faced Spain’s David Adria in the quarter-finals.

The Maltese player had a blistering start and raced to a 5-0 lead before wrapping up the set 6-2.

Gatt then extended his fine play into the second set which he won 6-0 to advance to the tournament semi-finals.

His next opponent was Andre Kurth who plays in the German second division.

The first set went to a tiebreak which was very close... Kurth won it by a slim margin of 7-5. The German then raised his game further and won the match 7-6 6-1.

Kurth lost the final to Jordi Borrisser Pairo (Spain) 7-5 6-3.

Gatt was awarded 50 ranking points for his place in the last-four of the singles event. He is now no.143 in the ITF seniors list.

In doubles, Gatt teamed up with Spanish friend Ramzi Shuabi Morales. They received a bye in the first round before winning their last-eight match against Lithuanians Mindaugas Baltakis and Stasys Vaicius 6-0 6-0.

Gatt and Shuabi Morales were then paired with Kurth and Jorgen Aberg (Sweden) in the semi-finals. Shuabi Morales sustained an injured early in the match. He stayed on court but Kurth and Aberg sailed through, 6-2 6-1.

In the final, Kurth and Aberg were beaten by Borrisser Pairo and Karsten Windler (Germany) 6-2 7-6.

The semi-final placing also meant 50 points in the doubles rankings and Gatt is now no.8.

He is also in the top 10 in the world in mixed doubles over 35.

After his participation in the Marsa Open last weekend, Gatt will be shifting his focus to his next seniors event – the World Championships, being staged in Croatia in May.