Zarif Abrar, who recently won the men鈥檚 singles title of the Bangladesh National Tennis Championship for the first time, is eager to make a mark in ATP and Grand Slam events in the future.
The 17-year-old showcased his talent by defeating Mahad Bin Malek by 6-1, 6-3 sets in the final held at the Ramna Tennis Complex in Dhaka on February 28.
鈥業 became serious about tennis when I won the under-12 title. And my target is to see me at the ATP or Grand Slam. I will give my best efforts in the next five years to achieve that. I want to see myself in ATP or Grand Slam at the age of 22. If I cannot do that, I will think of other ways,鈥� Zarif told 抖阴精品.
Zarif found his passion for tennis at a young age, inspired by his father, Major (Retd) Sazmul Haque, who played the sport at the Jashore Cantonment. He also trained under Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protishtan tennis coach Shariful Islam Tinku in 2013.
鈥業鈥檓 fond of playing different games from an early age, and still I keep tennis ahead of my academics. My father is my inspiration. I used to see him play tennis, and luckily Tinku sir was there,鈥� said Zarif, who also finds interests in other sports.
Born in 2007, Zarif has been participating in age-level competitions since 2016 and won his first-ever title during the National Junior (U-12) Tennis Tournament 2020 in Rangpur.
He won eight age-level鈥攗nder-12, 14, 16, and 18鈥攖itles at the domestic level from 2016 to 2020 before joining the Hobson Performance Tennis Academy in Florida, USA, to train under Ashely Hobson in 2023.
Besides, he bagged five titles competing in 11 age-level international tournaments held in six countries from 2022 to 2024.
But now Zarif鈥檚 main target is to perform well in the Davis Cup 2025, and to achieve that, he left for the US on Monday for six months of training under Ashley Hobson.
鈥業 am leaving for the USA tonight. Will stay for the next six months before the upcoming edition of Davis Cup鈥y target is to represent Bangladesh at the best possible level in the Davis Cup competition,鈥� he said.
The 11th-grade student has already completed nine months of training in Florida. Zarif and his family need to overcome the hurdles of monetary need, as they need to spend $15,000 for each three months of training in the USA.
