Nishant Dabas capped a fine run by outplaying Walid Ahouda of Morocco 6-0, 6-4 in the final of the ITF grade-2 junior tournament in Cairo.
After a struggle the previous three weeks when he managed to win three matches in all, the 17-year-old Nishant struck rhythm. He started well in the fourth tournament by outclassing the second seed Marcel Kamrowski of Poland for the loss of three games.
Thereafter, he did not drop a set till he was stretched by third seed Ilia Simakin of Russia in the semifinals when Nishant prevailed 7-6(6) in the third set.
It was the first singles title of his career in the international junior circuit for Nishant who trains with coach Zeeshan Ali in the Capital.
He had lost five finals earlier, two against Aman Dahiya, two against Chirag Duhan and one against Yu Zhang of China. Nishant has been winning doubles titles, five of them in all, including three this season, but has been waiting for his first singles title to match his status as the No.1 junior in the country.
The results: Singles (final): Nishant Dabas bt Walid Ahouda (Mar) 6-0, 6-4; Semifinals: Nishant bt Ilia Simakin (Rus) 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(6).
Quarterfinals: Nishant bt Cooper Williams 6-3, 6-4; Pre-quarterfinals: Nishant bt Ahmed Zaki (Egy) 6-4, 6-0; First round: Nishant bt Marcel Kamrowski (Pol) 6-2, 6-1.
