Matthew Asciak and Elaine Genovese etched their names on the championships roll after convincing victories in the finals which were played on Saturday at the Marsa Sports Club.

These championships were organised by the Marsa Sports Club under the auspices of the Malta Tennis Federation and generously sponsored by Gatorade.

Asciak, who had to interrupt his tennis programme this year due to illness and injury, came back in earnest to win the title after only losing four games in the four matches he played.

What impressed was his unflagging determination to succeed – built on a total concentration.

On the way to the final he beat Clint Cassar, Danzil Agius and Simon Camilleri quite convincingly losing only one game in the process.

In the crucial match against his eternal rival-cum friend Matija Pecotic, Asciak produced a very solid performance. As he said after the match he ‘avoided unforced errors’ interspersing his steady stance with successful aggressive forays. The 6-2 6-1 result is evidence enough of his exploit.

The Ladies’ Singles event, in which unfortunately only a few ladies participated, saw the merited victory of the elegant aggression of Elaine Genovese.

The latter got to the final after a convincing 6/1 6/3 victory against the talented Steffy Sullivan.

Her opponent in the final, Kim Cassar, had advanced by dint of an easy win over Brenda Galea and by a superb performance in the semis against number two seed Elena Jetcheva.

The new slimmer and more agile edition of Kim won the first set 6/2 against Elena who then retired after being 0-3 in arrears in the second set.

The finalists, Elaine and Kim, are both to be commended since they had sought to improve and consolidate their tennis by their summer contacts with the tennis world abroad.

The final itself witnessed the total domination of Elaine which produced a 6/1 6/1 result. Kim was a shadow of her convincing semi-final version. Elaine, on the other hand, played a blinder unleashing precise and strong winning drives to her opponent’s flanks.

After the match she shyly and unassumingly commented that she had built her positive performance on ‘steadiness and precise aggression throughout the match.’

The only other event in the Championships was the Men’s Doubles which was won convincingly by Matthew Asciak and Matija Pecotic with a 6-3, 6-1 score against the strong pair Bjorn Ohlssen/Simon Camilleri.

The beaten finalists had performed very well by beating Karl Falzon/Harvey Wadge in the quarter-finals and the experienced Delicatas, Marcus and Daryl, in the semis after a gruellingly close 2/6,6/1,7/6 three-setter.

Trophies and plaques were presented to the winners and finalists by Tony Cilia Pisani, President of the Malta Tennis Federation in the presence of MSC Chairman, Ralph Asciak.