Huzaifa Off To USA For Two Top Int'l Junior Tennis Events

ISLAMABAD, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 18th Nov, 2018 ) :Pakistan's top junior player Huzaifa Abdul Rehman flew to USA on late Saturday night to take part in two high-powered international events, Junior Orange Bowl International Tennis Championship and Eddie Herr International Junior Tournament.

The Junior Orange Bowl International Tennis Championship is scheduled to be held in Plantation, Florida from November 30 to December 8.

The prestigious tennis event is for 12-and-under, 14-and-under and 16-and-under male and female players.

The tournament boasts an impressive alumni list of world's several former and current pros including Jimmy Connors (USA), Chris Evert Lloyd (USA), Bernard Tomic (Australia), Madison Keys (USA), Roger Federer (Switzerland) and Andy Murray (Great Britain).

They all have been amongst past winners of the coveted event.

Huzaifa has qualified for championship's 16-and-under category due to his outstanding performance in the recent past in international events where has been finishing either at No. 1 or No. 2 in his age group tournaments. He is also the only Pakistani among over 1300 top ranked tennis players from across the world to participate in the coveted event.

The other prestigious event, Eddie Herr International Junior Tournament runs at Tampa from November 21 to December, 2.

Huzaifa is the fourth Pakistani lad to represent the country in these events after Aisam-ul-Haq (1997), Nasir Shirazi (1997) and Nofil Kalim (2013).

"I'm proud to be selected for these events. I know some really tough contests await me there. But I'm not nervous. I am ready take on the challenge and prove my class," he told APP before leaving for USA along with his father and coach, Col (R) Muhammad Faisal.

After finishing Asian No.

2 in under 14 category in 2016, Huzaifa took a one-year break from competitive tennis, focusing on training to remove his shortcomings. In 2017, he attended a four-month training session at Potter's Wheel Tennis academy, Beijing under the supervision of Carlos Rodriguez, the coach of former World No. 1, Justine Henin. While in May, this year he underwent a 10-week training at Koza WOS, Istanbul under the watchful eyes of Gavin Hooper, the coach of Monica Seles and Marian Cilic.

"Those long hours of tough training regimes have helped me a lot. My fitness level has increased and I feel myself fully fit to take on any challenge," he said while highlighting the impact of his training stints on him in Beijing and Istanbul.

The last four weeks have been extremely successful for Huzaifa as he displayed superb tennis skills and sportsmanship, winning an ITF Juniors Grade-V doubles event and finishing runner-up twice in singles' event of the same championships. During this period, he also annexed two under 18 national titles. "It is my dream to play in the Grand Slam tournaments in future. I'm sure one day I will be exhibiting my skills there," he said.

Col (R) Faisal also sounded optimistic that like world's several professionals, participation in the US events would act as springboard for his son also. "He is an incredible young talent. I'm sure participation in these tournament will give him much needed exposure," he said.

However, the 47-year-old said that training facilities in Pakistan were not at par with international level and his son would need regular training sessions abroad. "But training in foreign countries involves abig amount and it is not possible for a common Pakistani to afford that. Hence,we are desperately looking for some sponsorship," he added.