Vucic
Scores Singles Semis & a
Hatrick in Doubles
MCTA
player Ilija Vucic finished
the Asian tour on a high
note, winning the doubles
title of the 11th Sarawak
Chief Minister's Cup ITF
Junior Tennis Championships
2008 and reaching his first
Group 1 semi-final in
singles, before bowing out
to the world number 12,Yuki
Bhambri from India 62, 64.
Vucic joined forces with
Niki Mozer from Austria to
win their second consecutive
doubles title, which was
Ilija's third one. They won
63, 62 in the final
against no2 seeded
Siributwong and
Chiramanowong from Thailand.
Henri Kontinen was mentally
and physically a bit jaded
after back to back finals
and lost 2nd round in
Malaysia but bounced back to
make a semi final in the
doubles before narrowly
losing to eventual
champions, team mate Vucic
and Austrian Niki Moser in a
championship tie-break
thriller 67(4) 62 76(10).
"This was an important
result for Ilija and the
first significant junior
singles result since last
summer. We have asked for
more mental consistency for
a few months in singles and
this week we got it! Both
Henri and Ilija can reflect
on a tour that gives them a
real shot at ending the year
in the top 10, a goal we
have always stated as an
objective" said David Sammel
MCTA's director of Tennis.
He added "I also
congratulate Igor for a fine
coaching job in challenging
conditions both on and off
the court. We wait with
interest to see exactly how
high the boys have risen
when the ranking points are
all on the board in 2
weeks".