TUNISIA DAVIS CUP PLAYER HAYTHEM ABID INTO SEMIFINALS AT USTA CLAREMONT CLUB PRO CLASSIC FOR SECOND YEAR IN A ROW

Written by: Staff on 13th September 2013

TUNISIA DAVIS CUP PLAYER HAYTHEM ABID INTO SEMIFINALS AT USTA CLAREMONT CLUB PRO CLASSIC FOR SECOND YEAR IN A ROW

UCLA vs. California |

CLAREMONT, Calif. , (Sept. 13, 2013) – There are times on the court when it’s only natural for Haythem Abid to think back and recall one of his finest tennis moments, even though it ended in such a tough defeat.

On Friday, the former UCLA No. 1 player advanced to the semifinals at the USTA Claremont Club Classic, a $10,000 Men’s Pro Futures event taking place at the Claremont Club, for the second straight year with a convincing 6-2, 6-1 win over No. 4-seeded Sho Katayama of Japan.

Back in April playing in a relegation World Group II Davis Cup match at his home club on clay in Tunis, Tunisia, Abid found himself in the deciding match against Belarus’ Egor Gerasimov. Losing the match would mean moving down to Europe/Africa Group III play in 2014.

Abid fell 6-4 in an epic fifth-set battle. “It was really amazing, truly a once in a lifetime experience,” Abid said. “It is something every tennis player only dreams of, playing the deciding match in a fifth set of a Davis Cup match at your home club. I only wish I would have been able to pull out the win.”

The unseeded Abid still resides in Westwood and is currently ranked No. 797 in the ATP World Tour rankings. He will face current UCLA junior Marcos Giron in Saturday’s semifinals.

In fact, it’s an all UCLA semifinal as two former Bruins will contest supremacy in the other half of the draw as No. 2-seeded Nick Meister battles No. 3 Dennis Novikov. Meister was involved in the match of the day, downing No. 6-seeded and former Texas A&M All-American Jeff Dadamo 7-6 (4), 6-7 (9), 6-4.

In the doubles final, the top-seeded team of Carsten Ball and Daniel Garza defeated Matt Fawcett and Fabian Matthews, 6-3, 6-2, to capture the doubles title.

Friday’s Quarterfinal Singles Results

Dennis Novikov (3), U.S., def. Ernesto Escobedo, U.S., 6-2, 6-3

Marcos Giron, U.S., def. def. Damon Gooch, South Africa, 6-2, 6-1

Nicolas Meister (2), U.S., def. Jeff Dadamo (6), U.S., 7-6 (4), 6-7 (9), 6-4

Haythem Abid, Tunisia, def. Sho Katayama (4), Japan, 6-2, 6-1

Friday’s Final Doubles Result

Carsten Ball, Australia / Daniel Garza (1), U.S., def. Matt Fawcett, South Africa / Fabian Matthews, U.S., 6-3, 6-2

For more information, check on the web at:www.procircuit.usta.com, www.claremontclub.com; Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/The-Claremont-Club/236147226396

Topics: Davis Cup, Sports, Tennis, Usta