JEDDAH, 19 November 2003 — Ahmed El Mehelmy has once again proved to be No.1 in Jeddah with a convincing win over Filipino Manny Valeramos in the recently concluded 13th Perrier Open Tennis Classic held at the Albilad Hotel Golden Tulip Courts.
Mehelmy took control of the match from the first game using his power play. His backhands and forehands combined with accurate volleys were just too much for Manny as he lost the first set 6-0 in just over half an hour.
At the start of the second set, Ahmed once again displayed his power play and took the first two games in his stride before Manny came fighting back to take the ninth and 11th game. It was not long before Ahmed lifted the title 6-0, 6-0 for the second consecutive year.
In the ‘B’ singles category Albilad’s Larry Zafe finally lifted his first title by defeating Basim Jawi, a Saudi, in a hard fought battle. The first set was decided on a tiebreaker with Larry finally taking the title 7-6, 6-4. Larry can now look forward to next year’s tournament with his new promotion to men’s ‘A’ singles category.
The men’s ‘C’ singles category also saw a new champion emerge with Filipino Ricky Savate. This was Savate’s first title win over his much younger opponent, Sanjeet Periera 6-3, 6-3.
Sanjeet, however, had no problem in taking the Under-16 category with a convincing win over Mohsen Hafiz, the final score being 6-1, 6-2.
In the other Under-12 junior category, Raymond Fenton playing in his first open tournament lifted the title with an impressive win over Christian Naparen,
The prize giving ceremony held at the Albilad Hotel Golden Tulip Poolside was attended by Salem Basamh of the Basamh Trading Co, the sponsor of the event and distributor of Perrier water, Dedier Savage, Perrier’s regional manager, Middle East and North Africa, Rafi Ahmed Khan, marketing coordinator of Basamh Trading Co., and Bob Wilson, recreation manager at Albilad Hotel Golden Tulip.
