Kazakhstan's Nurlanuly secures ITF J300 quarterfinal berth in Australia
Zangar Nurlanuly has achieved a historic milestone by reaching the quarterfinals of the ITF J300 Traralgon tournament, Qazinform News Agency reports, citing the Kazakhstan Tennis Federation (KTF).
It bears noting that the ITF J300 Traralgon tournament is traditionally held on the eve of the Australian Open Junior Championships.
In the third-round match, the ITF world-ranked junior No. 12 Zangar Nurlanuly confidently defeated the USA’s Gavin Goode, who holds the 21st position in the rankings. The match concluded in straight sets with a score of 7-6 (7-5), 6-1. The turning point of the encounter was the first-set tiebreak, where the Kazakh player managed to shift the momentum in his favor before taking full control of the game in the second set.
This success is a landmark achievement as Zangar Nurlanuly becomes the first-ever Kazakhstani junior player to secure a berth in the singles quarterfinals of the J300 tournament in Traralgon.
To advance to the semifinals, he is set to face one of the leaders of the world junior tour, Luís 'Guto' Miguel of Brazil, who is currently ranked fifth in the ITF Junior rankings. The match is scheduled for January 19.
As Qazinform News Agency previously reported, Kazakhstan became one of only three countries represented in the world’s top 10 tennis rankings for both men and women, alongside the United States and Italy.