Players turn up the heat at Atlasville tennis tourney

The blistering heat at the weekend did nothing to deter tennis enthusiasts from giving it their all in the Atlasville Tennis Club’s annual championship, held at the club’s home ground on October 12.

Scores of qualifying tennis players battled it out in a series of intense championship playoff games to advance to the ladies and men’s singles and doubles finals.

The results were:

• Kobri du Preez won the men’s singles finals after beating his son, Bjorn, 7-6, 3-6, 6-1. The pair was also dominant in the men’s double finals, beating Kevin Kockett and Neil Alston 6-4, 6-1.

• Michelle Lu emerged the winner of the ladies’ singles finals with a score of 6-3, 6-1 after facing Tarryn Ross.

The ladies’ doubles finals is scheduled to take place this coming weekend at the same venue.

The championship came a month after the club held its veterans tournament, and winners of these tournaments will receive their medals and trophies during the year-end function expected to be held on November 23.

The club’s treasurer, Steven Jeffery, pointed out that these tournaments serve as tennis ladder that helps them to select the best to represent the club in the regional tournaments, including the East Gauteng league.

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Club seeks new members

The Atlasville Tennis Club encourages tennis enthusiasts to join its community and take advantage of the programmes offered.

The club’s chairperson, Kobri du Preez said the resident coach is offering training to players of all skill levels, including those who do not know how to play and want to get started, to experienced players who want to develop their skills.

Jeffery said: “We are really struggling to gain new members. Perhaps it’s because tennis is not seen as one of the sexy sports like soccer and rugby which get all the attention. Tennis in this country, in fact globally, doesn’t get a lot of attention, which is unfortunate.

“I play squash as well, and our local clubs are, despite having beautiful facilities, struggling with membership. Some have closed down and some of those that are still open may soon follow suit.

“At our club we are very fortunately to have at least 100 members, including about seven youngsters, who play in the schools league and they come and play here and get some extra practice.

“I also think we are the biggest club in the region (East Gauteng) and this is evident when we play in the leagues where we have more teams than the other clubs.

Neglect of sporting facilities

This publication asked the club to share its take on the deteriorating state of our sporting facilities across the city.

The club expressed its displeasure regarding the current state and poor maintenance of some of the iconic facilities in town.

“It’s really sad to see some of our sporting facilities going to ruins. We have seen beautiful facilities left to go to rack and ruin.

“With the tennis club here, we are very fortunate because we have some sponsorships, active members and we do fundraising events to help cover the high monthly overheads and do maintenance.

“We have just embarked on a full maintenance plan; we just refenced the facility, replaced the nets on the courts, and we are planning to do resurfacing and would appreciate any help from anyone.”

Anyone interested in becoming a member of the Atlasville Tennis Club can email Kobri du Preez at kobri.dupreez@gmail.com or click on this link to download the application forms: https://www.atlasvilletennis.co.za/become-a-member/

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