Tennis: Portugal’s Machado succeeds for the third time at ITF Men’s Futures

Rui Machado of Portugal succeeded for the third successive time when he clinched the Sri Lanka F3 Men’s Futures tennis tournament with a convincing two sets to nil win over Miljan Zekic of Serbia in the singles final played at the SLTA tennis courts in Greenpath, Colombo on Saturday (21).   The win for second seeded Machado saw him make a clean sweep of the three series ITF conducted Sri Lanka Men’s Futures tennis tournament which began in early February.   Machado dashed the hopes of his opponent Zekic who earlier won the men’s double title partnered by his compatriot Arsenije Zlatanovic and was seeking to win a double as he had little difficulty in brushing off the challenge to win the final with ease.   In contrast the doubles final was a closely contested affair which ended in a tight finish in favour of the fourth seeded Serbian pair Miljan Zekic/Arsenije Zlatanovic with the duo overcoming the third seeded pair of Andre Dime (USA)/Ben Mclachlan (New Zealand).   Prize money of $10000 was on offer for each of the three tournaments which saw Machado taking the major share by emerging the singles champion in all the three tournaments.   Results:   Singles final: Rui Machado (Portugal) beat Miljan Zekic (Serbia) 2-0 (6/0, 6/3).   Doubles final: Miljan Zekic/Arsenije Zlatanovic (Serbia) beat Andre Dime (USA)/Ben Mclachlan (New Zealand) 2-1 (6/4, 1/6, 7/5).