Arili Boshoff wins the GE 150 000 Challenge
This event is one of the biggest events on the Tennis South Africa (TSA) national calendar and draws many of the top players in the country each year.
Over the past two weekends, Arili Boshoff competed in the GE Wilson 150 000 Challenge, hosted by the Gauteng East Tennis Headquarters in Benoni.
This event is one of the biggest events on the Tennis South Africa (TSA) national calendar and draws many of the top players in the country each year. Last year Arili competed in the under 14 girls’ singles event and finished in fifth place. This year she was looking to better that, and certainly did.
On Saturday June 1, Arili kicked off her 2019 campaign with a straight-sets win over Gauteng North’s Megan Streak, 6-0 6-1, followed by another convincing 6-2 6-2 victory over Tiana Philippides of Gauteng Central. These two wins set her up for the semi-finals the following weekend.
In Arili’s Saturday June 8 match against second seed Lilitha Ndungane from Gauteng Central, she was looking to avenge her previous loss to the 19th ranked player in South Africa.
In a close first set, Arili’s defensive skills proved too much and she prevailed 7-5. In the second set, however, Lilitha came out swinging and went up 4-1. Arili rallied and won five games in a row, fielding a match point at 5-4 up. Unable to convert, the match went into a tie-breaker, Lilitha holding two set points at 6-4 up.
Arili held her nerve and won four points in a row to clinch the match and head into the finals.
Sunday’s final would see Arili up against Tayla Wilmot of Gauteng East, ranked eighth in South Africa in girls’ under 14.
It was a very different match from the previous day’s semi-final, one that saw Arili being more aggressive and taking charge of the match. She dominated the first set with strong serves and decisive play, winning it 6-1. The second set saw a resurgence from Tayla, testing the Mbombelan’s resolve. Arili, however, would prove too strong on the day, prevailing 6-1 6-3 for the title.
“This is an outstanding result for Arili, beating two players to whom she lost in both her previous encounters. It shows great progress in her mental focus, and builds her momentum and confidence going into her next tournament in the July holidays,” said her coach, Eckhardt van der Linde. “From a coach’s perspective, it’s exciting seeing a player take charge and translate the work done in practice into match situations.”
