Five-time former champion of Turkmenistan Yuriy Rogusskiy has regained the title of the country's number one tennis player. He achieved this success by winning the Turkmenistan Cup in men's singles, which was held to coincide with the 33rd anniversary of the country's independence.

The tournament, organized by the State Committee for Physical Culture and Sports and the Tennis Federation of Turkmenistan, brought together 113 athletes on the courts of the Ashgabat multifunctional stadium.

59 young men and 54 girls from Ashgabat, Dashoguz, Lebap and Mary velayats competed for prizes in singles, doubles and mixed categories.

The men's singles final, where the two best tennis players of the country met – two-time champion of Turkmenistan Meylis Orazmuhammedov and winner of the Turkmenistan Cup Yuriy Rogusskiy – caused great intrigue in the tournament. Over the past two years, they have been fighting hard for the title of the first racket of Turkmenistan.

25-year-old Meylis Orazmuhammedov is a 5th-year student at the Turkmen State Institute of Physical Education and Sports. In his free time, he trains young athletes at the Ashgabat Tennis Academy. And Yuriy Rogusskiy, who will turn 29 on the 3rd of November, works as a coach at the Border Institute of Turkmenistan.

Last year, in the final of the Turkmenistan Cup, Yuriy Rogusskiy won against M. Orazmuhammedov. However, in April of this year, in the final of the Turkmenistan Championship, Meylis took a convincing revenge on Yuriy– 6:1, 6:1 and took away the title of the first racket of the country from him.

On his way to the final, M. Orazmuhammedov won four easy victories, defeating Ali Geldiyev – 6:1, 6:3, Serdar Vepamyradov – 6:0, 6:0, Resul Atayev – 7:5, 6:4 and Merdan Hanov – 6:2, 6:2.

But Y. Rogusskiy had to work hard to reach the final. Having easily defeated Akbar Azizov – 6:0, 6:0 and Muhammetsapa Serdarov – 6:0, 6:2 in the first two matches, Yuriy almost lost to the eighth seeded Allanur Dayanjov in the quarterfinals. Having lost to him in the first set – 3:6, Rogusskiy won back four match points in the second and snatched victory in the tie-break – 7:2. In the third set, the broken opponent stopped fighting.

In the semifinals, Y. Rogusskiy needed 2.5 hours to break the resistance of the 7th seeded Gurbanberdi Gurbanberdiyev. Yuriy won the first set – 6:2, lost the second – 3:6. And only in the third, at the cost of great efforts, the former champion of Turkmenistan managed to tip the scales in his favour – 7:5.

This grueling duel left its mark on Y. Rogusskiy's play in the final, which lasted 2 hours and 40 minutes. In the first set, he looked noticeably tired, and therefore easily lost - 1:6. In the second, Yuri pulled himself together, made two breaks and, having won - 6:3, evened the score in the match.

In the decisive set, up to the score of 4:4, the tennis players regularly took their serves. Then they exchanged breaks - 5:5, after which they again took one of their serves - 6:6. The culmination of the match came in the tie-break, where Meylis Orazmuhammedov had three match points. But Y. Rogusskiy won them back, then came forward and on the second serve put a beautiful winning point with an ace - 8:6!

The top three winners were rounded out by the coach of the 11th sports school of the Main Department of Physical Culture and Sports of Ashgabat, Gurbanberdi Gurbanberdiyev, who won the match for 3rd place in a very tough fight against the 6th seeded 2nd year student of the Turkmen State Institute of Architecture and Construction, Merdan Hanov – 6:4, 6:7, 7:6.

In addition to his success in singles, Yuriy Rogusskiy added a victory in mixed doubles with 15-year-old 10th-grade student of Turkmenabat secondary school Sabina Rahmanova. In the final, this duo defeated Didar Vepamyradov/Maral Ahmedova – 6:3, 7:6 (7:5).

In men's doubles, the winners of the Turkmenistan Cup were Hajymyrat Charyyev and Meylis Orazmuhammedov, who defeated fourth-seeded Selim Chagylov and Selim Pirjikov in the final – 6:4, 7:6, 10:6.

In the women's tournament, in the absence of the first racket Ilima Guseynova due to her participation in the prestigious junior tournament «GSPDP Asian 14&U Junior Championships 2024» in Cambodia, the winner of the Turkmenistan Cup for the first time became a 12th-grade student of Ashgabat Secondary School №50 Aisha Bikbulatova. On the way to this success, the 17-year-old student of Jenneta Hallyyeva, seeded number one, won successively against Aygozel Berdiyeva - 6:0, 6:0, Kseniya Sorokina - 6:0, 6:1, Leyla Hojamgulyyeva - 6:2, 6:0. In the semi-finals, Aisha also easily defeated the third-seeded player, winner of the 2024 Turkmenistan Cup in mixed doubles Sabina Rahmanova – 6:1, 6:1, and in the final, in a tough fight, she defeated the second-seeded player, a second-year student of the Faculty of Digital Technologies and Cybersecurity of the Institute of Engineering and Transport Communications of Turkmenistan, Rojan Karajayeva – 7:5, 7:5.

The final match was far from easy for A. Bikbulatova. She was losing to her opponent in both sets: 3:5 in the first and 4:5 in the second. And yet she found the strength to turn the game around.

«After I took the lead 6:5, Rojan saved three match points. And only on the 4th, on my opponent’s serve, did I manage to hit the winning ball into the corner of the court and win the final», A. Bikbulatova said.

The winner of the 2024 Turkmenistan Cup also said that our women’s team will face a serious test in the Billie Jean King Cup in Bahrain this November, expressing her sincere gratitude to the leadership of the Turkmenistan Tennis Federation for the excellent conditions created in preparation for the important competition.

Sabina Rahmanova won the bronze medal in women's singles, beating fourth-seeded 10th-grader Jennet Charyyeva of Ashgabat Secondary School № 19 in the match for 3rd place – 6:3, 6:4.

In women's doubles, Anastasiya Azimbayeva and Rojan Karajayeva won, defeating Aynur Annamyradova and Jennet Charyyeva in the final – 6:2, 6:2.