New primary schools and wheelchair tennis national champs crowned at GETA
The finals were attended by around 180 players from across the country.
Primêre Meisieskool Oranje won their fourth primary school national title while Umhlali Preparatory clinched their first trophy during the BNP Paribas RCS Rising Star Tennis SA (TSA) primary schools and wheelchair tennis national finals on October 27.
Open Air School and Meerhof School won the boys’ and girls’ wheelchair tennis titles at a packed Gauteng East Tennis Association (GETA) complex in Lakefield.
The finals started on October 25 and concluded with the finals two days later. Around 180 players from across the country attended it.
Also present were TSA President Gavin Crookes, Gauteng Tennis Association President Given Baloyi and the Central Gauteng Tennis’ Enzio Zambetti, SA Davis Cup juniors’ team coach Alan Karam and Dunlop national sales manager, Eugene Brown.
Girls
Oranje dominated the girls’ section, with Mandi Claassens leading the charge with a 6-4, 6-2 straight sets victory over HTC’s Onkagile Sefolo on centre court while Lika Claassens needed a tie-break to beat HTC’s Bokamoso Malapane on court five.
After Sefolo broke Mandie’s serve in the first set, Mandie took the second serve and put pressure on her opponent. This resulted in Sefolo struggling to sustain the length and depth of the baseline rallies for much of the set because of the strong wind.
Mandie used the return serve to move Sefolo and repeatedly deployed the short ball, which often wrong-footed her opponent. She eventually won the first set 6-4.
Also Read: Harris wins third GETA winter tourney
In the second set, Mandie made fewer errors and kept her game consistent, which forced Sefolo to play a defensive game. Mandie won the set 6-2, to win the match.
Lika made it a clean sweep with a 6-3, 6-3 straight sets victory over Malapane.
“It is a privilege to be here because qualifying for the finals is hard. I played my best tennis and God did the rest. It feels amazing,” Lika said.
Boys
Despite Umhlali’s Cameron Kock’s early struggles against HTC’s Jayson Maxson, the Durbanite rallied himself back into the contest to win the match 4-6, 6-4 (10-4) after a 10-point tie-break.
Maxson dominated the first, winning 6-4, and went two games up in the second set. Kock’s frustrations were clear. After losing two points in the first game of the set, hitting a drop shot that hit the net and landing another shot over the baseline, he hit his racket on his shoe.
Maxson was 4-2 and looked on course for victory, but Kock won the next four games to win the set 6-4 and clinched the match after winning the tie-break 10-4.
“It was a tough win. I started playing at the backend of the match and made no mistakes in the tie-break,” said Kock.
Open Air’s Bongumenzi Biyela led his school to a 7-5, 6-2 win over Adelaide Tambo’s Thabang Mosiane.
“It was a weekend packed with terrific tennis and team spirit. Sunday’s finals, across the board, showcased some amazing talent.
“Congratulations to all teams who made the finals and the winners,” said GETA junior tennis chairperson Karen McRae.
Also Read: GETA selects strong teams for 2025’s IPT
