Amman Tennis Masters Championship ends on weekend

AMMAN — The first ever Tennis Masters Championship hosted in Amman concludes on the weekend with semifinals on Friday and the final match on Saturday.

Organised by the Tennis Academy Amman, in cooperation with the Jordan Tennis Veterans Club, the championship is being held for the first time in Jordan and is modelled after the World Tour Finals that are held annually. Eight international players are competing on the Tennis Academy's courts at the Hussein Youth City to win a total of $20,000 in prize money. 

"The significance of this tournament is to put Jordan on the tennis map and raise the profile of the game locally," one of the organisers and former Jordan champ Khalid Naffa told The Jordan Times.

The eight players were divided into two groups with the top two from each group moving on to the semis.

On Thursday, Arab champion and captain of the Egyptian Davis Cup team Mohammad Safwat beat Spain's Juan Samuel Aruzo Martinez 6-2, 7-5 to top Group B. 

Safwat, ranked 187th, beat Bulgaria's top player Dimitar Kuzmanov 6-2, 6-1 but lost to former 75th ranked Romanian Victor Crivoi in a very close match. Crivoi, also defeated Martinez 6-4, 6-2. 

Bulgaria's Kuzmanov came second in the group. He defeated Spain's Martinez 6-2, 6-2. 

In Group A, top ranked Spanish player Adrian Maceiras beat compatriot Jaime Garcia 6-2, 7-6 to top the group. He also defeated Qatari Davis Cup team player Mubarak Shannan 6-0, 6-1. 

Slovak Ivo Klec, ranked 184th, came second in the group.

Kuzmanov, highest ranked 381st, was a junior semifinalist at Rolland Garros and top European under-16. 

Safwat will play Klec  while  Kuzmanov takes on Maceiras in the semifinals on Friday.