Big boost for teenage tennis star Daniel Azar

Newly crowned national under-18 and under-16 singles champion, Daniel Azar, says he has been moving from strength to strength this season and his victories at the 2021 All-Jamaica Junior Tennis Championships are a massive boost for his career.

Azar, who was winning titles for the first time in his career, defeated Stefan Rumble in a three-set thriller 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 for the under-18 title. The match lasted for two hours. The 16-year-old Azar then captured his second title of the championships when he battled from a set down to beat Jairdan Gibbs 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 to win the under-16 title.

“I am feeling great,” said Azar. “Only a few persons have won the under-16 and under-18 titles before, and so I feel really good to be among those names,” he said.

“It is definitely a confidence booster, because it is showing that my hard work is paying off, and I just need to continue working hard and to see what the future holds,” Azar said. The soft-spoken Azar, who attends boarding school in Tampa, Florida, added that the tournament was very challenging at times and therefore he had to pull out all the stops to come out victorious. “Both tournaments weren’t difficult, but there were a few matches that gave me a run for my money, but I managed to get through them,” he said.

“I think, overall, there were some great matches and, in the end, I came out victorious; and that is the result that I wanted,” Azar stated.

BIG DREAMS

Azar, who has represented Jamaica in a number of junior tournaments in the past, underscored that the main ambition now is to represent his country at the senior level.

“My main goal is to represent this beautiful country at the Davis Cup tournament, because that is my dream. I just need to continue on this path and once I do this, then, hopefully, I will do that one day,” he said.

“The end goal is to become a professional player and to play on the ATP tour, and hopefully, one day I will be playing in the Grand Slam tournaments,” Azar said.