VICTORY IN BOLIS
Zaruhi Harutyunyan wins her first ITF title in Turkey
Gibrahayer Saturday 20 May, 2006 – Armenia’s rising tennis star 15 year old Zaruhi Harutyunyan won her first ITF title by defeating South Africa’s number one player Bianca Swanepoel in the singles of the international world ranking tournament that concluded today at the Enka Sports Club in Bolis.
In a three-set nail-biting final that was watched by local tennis fans and cheering Bolsahays, Harutyunyan found herself losing 3-1 and 15-40 in the final set before regrouping and fighting back to clinch the set, the match and the championship, 5-7,
6-2, 6-4.
“I refused to let the championship slip away after having come so close … not here, not today”, said young Zaruhi in a telephone interview after the match. “I look forward to doing equally well in the second tournament this week,” she concluded.
The TED tournament begins on Monday in Bolis.
Today’s championship win will most likely place her in the top 300 in the world, a dramatic climb of 900 positions in a few months when she began her tour in January 2006 in Bangladesh at position 1245 in the world.
Harutyunyan has been practising in Cyprus since September 2005 in a program with the Cyprus National tennis team and since March 2006 in England, with ex Wimbledon champion Jo Durie in the Academy of Alan Jones in Hazelwood.