Young Asciak forced to withdraw

Matthew Asciak and Anthony Bonnici have just returned to Malta from Palermo after participating in an U-14 tournament, sanctioned by the Italian tennis federation. All matches were played at the Country Time Club.

Bonnici did well to win his first-round match, beating Cori but then lost to Caiozzo in the second round.

Asciak won his opening three matches, beating Pensabene, Corso and Ciacolone to reach the round of 16 out of 80 entries.

However, he was forced to withdraw from the tournament due to a bad bout of gastric 'flu. Asciak had already eliminated the top two seeds and considered favourite to reach the final.

Asciak was also invited to play in a top eight U-14 weekend tournament which featured the more promising U-14 players in Sicily, two of whom occupy top places in the national rankings. However, the upcoming Maltese youngster had to retire due to his illness.