Pakistan’s capital delivered a week of top-class women’s tennis as the W15 Islamabad tennis championship concluded its first leg with France’s Astrid Cirotte lifting the singles title. The top seed defeated Thailand’s Kamonwan Yodpetch 7-5, 7-5 in Sunday’s final at the PTF Tennis Complex, capping a tournament that brought 30 players from 17 countries to Islamabad and put the city firmly on the ITF World Tennis Tour map.
Photo: The News
The final, played on October 11, lived up to its billing. Both sets stayed on serve deep into the business end, and it was Cirotte who held her nerve when it mattered most, closing out each set 7-5 in a match that lasted one hour and 36 minutes. For Yodpetch, it was a case of so near and yet so far in a final where the margins were paper thin.
A Tight Final Decided by Small Margins
Match statistics from the W15 Islamabad tennis final underline just how evenly contested the title clash was. Each player struck one ace, while Cirotte committed two double faults to Yodpetch’s four. The telling difference came on break points: Cirotte converted an impressive 83 percent of her chances and carved out five service breaks against Yodpetch’s three.
Both finalists arrived at the title match in strong form. Cirotte, the tournament’s top seed, had beaten Uzbekistan’s Sevil Yuldasheva 6-4, 7-5 in Saturday’s semifinal after earlier breezing past Russia’s Julia Khramtsova 6-0, 6-2 in the quarterfinals. Yodpetch booked her place with a commanding 6-0, 6-4 semifinal win over South Africa’s Wozuko Mdlulwa.
Cirotte’s week was doubly rewarding. A day before the singles final, she partnered Mexico’s Sabastiani Leon to claim the women’s doubles title, fighting back from a set down to beat South Korea’s Jeong Moon and Yodpetch herself 5-7, 6-2, 10-5 in the deciding match tie-break.
How Cirotte Won the W15 Islamabad Tennis Crown
The Frenchwoman’s route to the title showcased exactly why she was seeded first. She dropped only one set all week, in the doubles final, and in singles she was ruthless against every opponent she faced. Her semifinal against Yuldasheva was the sternest test before the final, a 6-4, 7-5 win that set up the all-Asian-European title clash fans had hoped for.
Yodpetch can take plenty of positives from her W15 Islamabad tennis run. The Thai second seed reached both the singles and doubles finals in the same week, an achievement that speaks to her consistency on the hard courts of the PTF Tennis Complex. Her semifinal demolition of Mdlulwa was one of the most one-sided matches of the later rounds.
A Truly International Field
One of the standout features of the W15 Islamabad tennis championship was its genuinely global entry list. Thirty players from 17 countries competed in the first leg, including France, China, Russia, Denmark, Mexico, Uzbekistan, South Africa, the Netherlands, Korea, Nepal, Japan, Hong Kong, Germany, Thailand, Turkiye, the Czech Republic, and host nation Pakistan.
The event, sponsored by the Fatima Group, was staged to promote and develop international women’s tennis in Pakistan. The W15 Islamabad tennis closing ceremony drew a strong turnout from the country’s tennis fraternity, with Usam Sharif of the Fatima Group attending as chief guest and DIG Saleem Marwat as guest of honour. Also present were Col. Gul Rehman, Director PTF; Zaira Ahmad Zaka, Secretary of the Pakistan Women’s Tennis Association; former Pakistan number one Sarah Mahboob Khan; and Tufail Cheema, Secretary of the Islamabad Tennis Association.
The tournament was supervised by Abdullah Haluk Torun of Turkiye, an ITF Bronze Badge Referee, giving the event full international officiating credentials.
What the W15 Islamabad Tennis Event Means for Pakistan
Hosting a full ITF World Tennis Tour event is a significant statement for Pakistan. The W15 Islamabad tennis tournament offers valuable world ranking points, which is why it attracted established professionals ranked inside the world’s top 700. For local players, sharing the draw with such a field is an education in itself, and for local fans it was a rare chance to watch international-standard tennis at home.
The presence of former Pakistan number one Sarah Mahboob Khan at the closing ceremony symbolised the bridge between the country’s tennis past and its ambitions for the future. Events like this create a pathway: young Pakistani players can now see, up close, the level required to compete on the professional circuit.
Pakistan’s recent sporting calendar has been encouraging for fans, from the national cricket team’s T20I series win over Sri Lanka to the country’s esports bronze at the Asian Games. The successful staging of an international tennis event adds another string to that bow, showing that Pakistan can host world-class competitions across a growing range of sports, alongside its improving football fortunes.
What Comes Next
The good news for tennis fans is that the action does not stop. The Pakistan Tennis Federation has announced that the main draw of the second leg of the W15 Islamabad World Tennis Women’s Futures Championships 2026 commenced on October 13 at the PTF Tennis Complex, giving players and spectators a back-to-back feast of international tennis.
With another full week of matches ahead, the second leg offers a fresh chance for the field, including Pakistan’s own players, to chase ranking points and silverware. If the W15 Islamabad tennis first leg is anything to go by, Islamabad is in for more high-quality tennis.
Sources
- Tez Khabar (APP wire report on the final)
- The News (semifinal and doubles report)
- Umpiry (final match statistics)
Umar is an engineer by profession and a passionate writer by passion. He has a deep interest in sharing good news related to Pakistan and has been working hard to promote the positive image of his homeland. Umar has written numerous articles on various topics related to Pakistan, such as technology, sports, culture, and economy.