Local tennis superstars Milan van Heerden and Murunwa Nemavhidi, both Laerskool Nelspruit pupils, produced outstanding results this past weekend, August 12 and 13, at the MP Nut and Bolt Tennis South Africa (TSA) tournament in Middelburg.

They travelled to Middelburg on Friday, along with fellow Eckhardt’s Tennis Academy players, to compete in the girls U14 and girls’ U12 events, respectively.

Milan started her tournament campaign convincingly against fellow Lowvelder Simoné Swart, winning 6-1, 6-0 on Saturday morning. She followed that up with a 6-1, 6-1 win against Annemie Roux from Gauteng Central in the semi-finals later that day.

On Sunday, Milan, seeded second for the tournament, defeated the number one seed, Jané Serfontein, from Gauteng Central, 6-2, 6-2. She teamed up with Serfontein to win the doubles, defeating Roux and Nina Pieterse from Gauteng Central, 6-3, 6-3, in the final.

In the girls’ U12 draw, Murunwa was also seeded second, and overcame her first opponent, Mika Bekker from Limpopo, 6-0, 6-4.

In the quarter-finals, she defeated fellow Lowvelder Ditebogo Ndlhovu, 6-1, 6-1. Murunwa endured a tough semi-finals opponent, Keotshepile Moorosi, from Gauteng North, coming back from a first set deficit to win 4-6, 6-4, 10-8.

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In the final, Murunwa faced another tough opponent from Gauteng North, the number-one seeded Nolwazi Mnguni, and was defeated 7-5, 7-5. The two finalists then teamed up and defeated Gauteng North’s Moorosi and Mahlako Legare, 6-1, 6-2, in the final.

“Milan and Murunwa are putting in the hard work, showing up at the courts at 05:00 in the morning and really committing to excellence in their tennis. Myself and the coaches at Eckhardt’s Tennis are very proud of their and their teammates’ efforts last weekend. At Eckhardt’s Tennis our most important values are a positive attitude, strong work ethic and outstanding sportsmanship,” said director, Eckhardt van der Linde.

Results of the Eckhardt’s Tennis Academy players:
• Michelle Wagner – 8th place singles and semi-finals in doubles, girls’ U14
• Evan Jacobs – 6th place in singles and winner in doubles, boys’ U14
• Jason Stoltz – 7th place in singles, boys’ U14
• Martin Swart – 7th place in singles and quarter-finals in doubles, boys’ U12
• Marlu van Wyk – 8th place in singles and quarter-finals in doubles, boys’ U12
• Drihan de Klerk – 11th place in singles and round of 16 in doubles, boys’ U12
• Matias le Roux – winner in gold singles and semi-finals in doubles, boys’ U12
• Tobiaan Basson – runner-up in gold singles and quarter-finals in doubles, boys’ U12
• HD Wallace – 10th place in gold singles and round of 16 in doubles, girls’ U12
• Sebastian le Roux – winner in Rainbow Kidz green ball, boys
• Carlo Dippenaar – 5th place in Rainbow Kidz green ball, boys.

The next TSA tournament on the kids’ calendar is the Suzuki Nelspruit Lowveld Slam, which will be held in Mbombela from September 8 to 10.