Three Quarter Finals In Three Tournaments: Maltese Tennis Sensation Tears It Up Internationally
Maltese tennis sensation Francesca Curmi (ranked 1,325) has come off the back of a magnificent three-tournament stint that saw her make a quarter-final appearance in each competition.
Each competition involved an arduous qualification of no less than three matches. But Francesca rose to the challenge and overcame her opposition, even when faced with opponents of higher international ranking.
After getting out of the qualification zone, Francesca met with athletes who, like her, hammered their way through the qualification phase. And more often than not, the athletes were highly ranked.
Regardless, 19-year-old Curmi defeated the likes of Italian athlete Federica Bilardo (726), Slovakian Eszter Meri (788), and German athlete Sina Hermann (447) on two separate occasions.
You can catch the highlights of her record by clicking here.
The games were played in Monastir, Tunisia (28th February – 6th March) and Palmanova, Spain (14th – 20th March and 21st – 27th March). All three are classed ITF ranked competitions that call upon athletes to go head-to-head in their journey to increase their international ranking.
In tennis, International Ranking – by way of ITF tournaments – is one’s gateway into high-profile, high-level competitions.
Her recent success is doubly impressive considering her return to competition in January this year.
Interference due to COVID-19 restrictions and disruptions in training had caused the 19-year-old to seek a hiatus since last July.
Regardless, she kept her form in check by retaining her grueling training regime at Barcelona, Spain, where she currently resides.
Her program, which is overseen by several professionals in the field, sees Curmi take part in a combination of physical and tennis training for as much as six hours per day.
She now has her eyes fixed upon another ITF-ranked tournament in mid-April. Another opportunity for the young starlet to keep her stellar momentum going.
At just 18 years of age, an unranked Francesca made history as the first Maltese tennis player to make it into the finals of a Futures event in Monastir, Tunisia, having beaten W. Morvayova (ranked 561) 2 – 0.
She ended up walking away with a silver medal in the same competition, having lost in the final, after getting the better of numerous adversaries in her journey to get there.
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