Pakistan’s Davis Cupper Samir Iftikhar kept his winning streak intact when he upset 4th seed ATP ranked and seasoned player James Ireland 6-3, 7-5 to reach the semi-final of the Aegon British Tour Cardif Championships being held at Welsh Tennis Center Cardiff UK.
He will meet number 1 seed, British number 12 Richard Bloomfield who is formerly 176th and currently is 371th on ATP world rankings.
Both players held serves till the 3 /4 when Samir broke Ireland with magnificent back hand down the line passing shot to lead 5/3 and finished the first set by holding serve with authority. The 2nd set went to 5 games all as both players held serves and were engaged in long baseline rallies. Ireland tried to give tough resistance but was broken in the 11th game and Samir held his serve to clinch the set and match. It is pertinent to mention that this is first professional men’s event for 19 year old Dual British Citizen Samir iftikhar for which he had to qualify. “I am very pleased with my performance and the tough NCAA Intervarsity Tennis Circuit has really helped me improve my game and the previous 2 wins have given me lots of confidence that I can compete against big guns and seasoned players at ATP Tour,” Samir said.
“I know that I am playing 370th World Ranked Player who was top 176th and is very experienced but I will go all out to cause upset and bring laurels to my adapted country.”
Aegon British Tour provides a circuit of tournaments designed to compliment the International Calendar giving up and coming players the opportunity to gain experience in their quest to become professional tennis players as well as those already competing on the international stage. Similar to the WTA Tour and ATP Tour, the top players on the leaderboard after all tournaments have been played are invited to the end of year Masters.
