There aren’t many weekends in the Lowveld these days where great tennis isn’t being played, and this past weekend was no exception.

More than 80 players from Limpopo, Gauteng, North West and Mpumalanga participated in the second instalment of the TSA VDL Tennis Lowveld Slam.

For the most part, fantastic weather prevailed, and Friday afternoon kicked off the weekend’s tennis.
Locals Wynand le Roux and Burger Bester found themselves in a battle that they didn’t expect, with Bester edging Le Roux 6-2, 6-3 in the men’s singles draw.

That wasn’t the end of the weekend’s highlights for Bester. He combined with JC Kruger to challenge eventual doubles winners JP Visagie and André Hartman, narrowly losing 7-5, 7-5.

Hartman, from the North West, also won the men’s singles event against SA Schools player Wernich Rossouw, 7-5, 6-3.

On the women’s singles side, Nelspruit Tennis Club champion Jeanetha Boshoff saw her convincing run through the draw ended by a strong performance from Gauteng Central’s Carla Dannhauser, with the youngster prevailing 7-5, 6-4 in the final.
Boshoff and Dannhauser then combined to win the women’s doubles final against locals Anso Thormahlen and Elzette Theron, 6-0, 6-2.

The girls’ u/14 singles draw saw another Boshoff with a top result, with Joslin winning that title in a closely contested 7-5, 7-6 final against Takara Giles from Gauteng East.

Boshoff and Giles then partnered up to win the girls’ u/14 doubles event, beating North West’s Paige Nicholls and Nicolene Cloete 6-0, 6-0 in the final.

The Lowveld was very well represented in the boys’ u/16 singles draw, with JP Snyman losing 6-3, 6-3 in the final against Heinrich Rootman.

Rootman partnered with Christian Smith to narrowly lose the men’s doubles final against Visagie and Hartmann, and Snyman teamed up with Naudé Breytenbach to clinch the boys’ u/12 doubles title against fellow Lowvelders Malan Linde and Hanru van der Merwe, winning 6-1, 6-2.

In the boys’ singles u/14 singles event, Seabo Saleshando from Botswana proved too strong for his field, winning the final 6-0, 6-0 against Limpopo’s Blake Bekker.

North West’s Keaton Williams and Waldo de Beer also overcame their competitors with a convincing win in the doubles final against Free State’s Henno Oosthuizen and Eduan Rademan 6-1, 6-1.

The boys’ u/12 singles final was an all Lowveld affair with Luan Siebrits edging Malan Linde 6-2, 6-0 in the final.
Then in the boys’ singles u/12 gold draw, fellow Lowvelders Hanru van der Merwe and Evan Jacobs battled it out in the final with Van der Merwe prevailing 6-1, 6-2.

Finally, the girls’ u/12 singles event saw two Middelburgers battle it out for the title, with Angel Makhubedu beating Natalie Fourie 6-4, 6-2 for the title.

On the doubles side, North West’s Elmien Geertsema and Mia Willson prevailed against Lowvelders Rebecca Eybers and Nina Grobbelaar, winning 6-1, 6-0 in the final.

Players are now looking forward to the R20K UTR Lowveld Summer Circuit event which will be held in Mbombela from July 2 to 4.
This tournament sees the winner take home R6 000, and the runner-up R2 000.

All information can be found on the Lowveld Junior Tennis web site, www.lowveldjuniortennis.co.za.