RIYADH, 28 December — Thirteen-year-old Aamer Javed won the first Riyadh Inter-Continental Palm Open tennis title in the Amateur Division. In the finals Aamer faced Robert Angelos and came out victorious with a score of 6-1, 6-3.
Despite his young age he played a matured game from the base line and let the most experienced Angelos make all the mistakes. Earlier in the semifinals, he defeated Ed Van Sertim 6-1, 6-2.
His toughest challenge was in the quarterfinals against Faisal Zainuddin in which he won in a tough 3-setter and a 7-3 tiebreaker. En route to the final he won a total of 8 matches.
This was the first Palm Open tournament, which has replaced the Riyadh Inter-Continental Desert Classic. The draw for the Amateurs included 90 plus players with ages ranging from 10 -55 years old. In the professional draw, Othman Alenzi beat Eddie Menendez 6-3, 6-3.
The losing semifinalists were the veteran Fiaz Asad and Abu Khalif. Miec Thomas the tournament director has stated the that second part of the Palm Open a doubles championship will be played in February 2002.
Aamer Javed in the year 2000 had won the Under-14 Desert Classic and the Junior Championship organized by the STF (Saudi Tennis Federation). This was a series of 8 junior tournaments in which Aamer won 5. In the final round of the Masters Aamer defeated Abdulaziz Abu Rashid 4-2, 4-2.
Aamer plays regularly on the Ontario Tennis Association Junior Circuit where he was ranked No. 5 in the under-12 category in year 2000. He also played for the Ontario provincial team against Quebec in the Inter-Provincial tournament and he also participated in the Ontario Summer Olympics.
In the year 2001, he played in the provincial closed under 14 and reached the quarterfinals in the singles and doubles category.
Aamer is looking forward to returning to Canada in the summer of 2002 and improving his ranking.
