JEDDAH: Egyptian Hisham Homeda got the better of top-ranked Filipino player Rico Gonzales 7-6, 6-2 to win the centerpiece Flight 1 of the 1st Mazda Tennis Open Tournament on Saturday at Albilad court here.
The final clash between two of the best players in Jeddah brought a fitting climax to the one and a half months long tournament in which singles and doubles titles went up for grabs in six flights.
Homeda had trouble against Gonzales in the first set, as the Filipino brought the set into a tiebreak.
At 6-5 in the tiebreaker, Homeda clinched the set with a powerful backhand that had the ball skimming the net to the delight of the capacity crowd.
Both players displayed power serves and a repertoire of groundstrokes and showed better movement on the court as the match went along.
Homeda, a new kid on the tennis block, raised his game to the next level in a trouble-free second set en route to winning his first tournament in Jeddah. A former junior player in the NCAA, US Open and Wimbledon, Homeda’s A-game showed in the second set and closed out the match with a huge serve and powerful backhand shots.
FAME Chairman Edwin Gonzales and the representatives from Mazda awarded the cash prizes and trophy. Homeda received a cash prize of SR 5,000 and trophy and Gonzales SR 3,000 and trophy.
Gonzales beat veteran compatriot Manny Villaramos 6-4, 6-3 while Homeda dumped Pakistani top seed Sulfiqar Shah 6-1, 6-3 in the semifinals.
Sala Udin emerged Flight 2 singles champion with another Filipino Jeck Olaguer taking the F3 title.
Dong Labis defeated Pakistani Zahran Imtiaz Khan 6-2, 6-4 in the F4 singles final then teamed with fellow Filipino Benny Lazarte to win the doubles crown in the flight via a walkover over the pair of Osman Allah and Walid Amin.
Amin, however, got redemption for the doubles loss by thrashing Eric Diaz 6-1, 6-0 in the F5 singles final. Another Saudi to lose by default in the doubles but who won in the singles was Saud Al-Arifi, who beat Arnaud De Clercq 6-3 7-5 in the F6 final. V. Alvaran and O. Paco were the winners by walkover in F5 against Al-Arifi and Osman.
The F6 doubles crown went to Hani Aboula and Jon Soriano, who bested Allah Khoja and Abdulmatee Khoja 6-2, 6-1.
