Hot action on Van Riebeeck park courts
Milan van Heerden and Jessica Staubli played each other on court one in a marathon two-hour 45-minute encounter.
Summer is fast approaching the Lowveld tennis scene, with excellent weather this past weekend at the TSA VDL Lowveld Tennis Spring.
All matches were played at Nelspruit Tennis Club (Van Riebeeck Park) over Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
There were some standout results from Lowveld players, the first of them coming in the girls’ u/12 singles draw.
Two locals, namely Milan van Heerden and Jessica Staubli, played each other on court one in a marathon two-hour 45-minute encounter.
Milan eventually prevailed 6-7, 6-3, 10-8.
Milan also partnered with Simoné Swart to win the doubles 6-1, 6-0, against Murunwa Nemavhidi and Paballo Chuene.
The boys’ u/12 draw nearly saw a Lowvelder take the title as well, with Dandré Louw losing 6-3, 7-6 to Raynard Rossouw from Secunda.
Raynard partnered with the Lowveld’s Mias Bezuidenhout to win the doubles final against Dandré and Janco de Bruyn, 3-6, 6-3, 10-6.
Joslin Boshoff enjoyed a hard-fought semi-final win in the girls’ u/16 draw against Izabella Lubasinski, but fell short in the final against number-one seed Sophia Koen, losing 6-3, 6-3.
Joslin then teamed up with Middelburg’s Kaitlyn Meyer to make the final of the doubles, eventually losing to Sophia and Izabella, 6-4, 6-4.
In the boys’ u/16 draw, another Lowvelder made it to the final. JP Snyman put a fight in the second set, but lost 6-1, 6-4 to Alexander Hristov from Gauteng Central.
JP did capture the doubles title, however, partnering with Ermelo’s Wihan Snyders to beat Niel Erasmus and Zander de Jager, 2-6, 6-2, 10-6.
Lastly in the men’s singles draw, number two seed James Hart ousted first seed Luke Clifton, 6-1, 6-4.
The highest Lowvelder to finish was third-placed Heinrich Rootman, beating Secunda’s Wernich Rossouw 6-3, 6-3.
Rootman then partnered with fellow Lowvelder Christian Smith to beat Gauteng Central’s father and son duo Bruce and James Hart, 6-3, 3-6, 10-6.
The next TSA tournament in Mpumalanga is the Highveld Spring in Secunda from October 15 to 17, followed by the Grand Prix in Mbombela from January 7 to 10, 2022.
