Bahrain 2025 – ATF Under 14 Grade A Tournament
Day Five: The longest day of the Tournament!
Today was, by far, the longest day of the tournament so far. With singles main draw, plate matches for both boys and girls, and a full schedule of doubles, it became extremely challenging to run everything on just six courts—especially when three of them have very poor lighting. It’s a real test of patience and organization for everyone involved.
We managed to squeeze in a solid morning hit with one of Bahrain’s top junior prospects. It was a valuable session for Rafa—giving him a taste of the pace and power we were expecting in his evening match. Getting to the courts today was another battle on its own. Thursday traffic in Bahrain can be chaotic—it’s the end of the week here, and everyone finishes early. What’s usually a 20-minute drive took us close to 50 minutes today.
Rafa had a very physical opponent. At this age, the gap in strength, serve power, and movement can be huge, and unfortunately, Rafa couldn’t find a way to bridge it. He struggled to get into the match, though there were still some positives—lessons and areas we’ll be targeting for improvement in the next round.
Isabella faced the No. 7 seed—one of the top-ranked girls in Asia from India. It started tightly, both players holding serve and pushing hard, but towards the end of the first set, Bella got broken and the Indian player closed it out. Early in the second set, Bella began showing signs of breathing difficulty. The tournament doctor stepped in and halted the match for medical attention. Her mother took her to the hospital for a check-up. Thankfully, it turned out to be nothing serious, and they were back at the hotel by 2 a.m. I’ll get more details in the morning, but for now, it seems she’s doing fine.
To top off the day, Rafa played his doubles match late in the evening. The more experienced team was simply too solid, and they took a comfortable win. By the time we got back to the hotel, it was well past midnight. Tomorrow, we’ll have a slower morning and head to the courts around 1:00 p.m. to get ready for the next matches.
More tennis to come…