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A double whammy for 6th seed Cagla
Buyukakcay at the 18th Al Habtoor
Tennis Challenge. The Turkish national
claimed both the singles and doubles
titles at the highly-anticipated event,
which was held at the Habtoor Grand
Beach Resort & Spa, Autograph
Collection from November 9–14, 2015.
Buyukakcay defeated second seed
Klara Koukalova from the Czech
Republic 6-7, 6-4, 6-4 in an exciting
1. Cagla Buyukakcay 2. (L-R): Nasser Al Janahi, Sultan Al Habtoor, Roberta C. Jilfar, Cagla Buyukakcay, Khalaf Al Habtoor, Klara Koukalova,
and Shiekha Al Janahi 3. Doubles winners Cagla Buyukakcay and Maria Sakkari 4. This year’s organising team with Tournament Director
and Head Coach, Kira Nagy
2.
3.
4.
1.
Turkey’s Cagla Buyukakcay claims the
singles and doubles titles at the AHTC
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singles final, lasting nearly 3 hours.
The 26-year-old was back on the court
half an hour later battling it out alongside
her Greek doubles partner Maria
Sakkari to win the doubles title 7-6, 6-4,
against her compatriot Ipek Soylu and
her doubles partner Elise Mertens from
Belgium - the number one seeds.
Buyukakcay said, “Dubai has been
a lucky place for me and that is
why I wanted to make this a special
tournament by winning it.”
The trophy presentation was cut short
by the tournament founder Khalaf
Ahmad Al Habtoor in honour of the
victims of the Paris and Beirut terror
attacks which coincided with the event.
“As humans we should never condone
such behaviour.” Al Habtoor said.
“Instead we need to stand together
united and get rid of such elements.”