Bigger and better is perhaps the most apt way of summing up this year’s Mbombela Open, which saw faces both familiar and new take home titles from Nelspruit Tennis Club.

The 2025 Mbombela Open was the second edition of what is now the largest domestic tennis tournament in South Africa, in terms of total prize money, with no less than R500 000. This is more than double the R200 000 prize pool that was on offer during the first event in 2024.

The size of the draw for the tournament also increased, with the men’s side growing from 64 to 80 players and the ladies side now 48 instead of 32 as seen last year.

The event, held between May 15 and 18, attracted a lot of top class talent once again, including some of the country’s best tennis players. Some, such as defending men’s champion and national Davis Cup player Alec Beckley, returned to Mbombela after a successful first outing in 2024. Beckley was once again top seed in the men’s draw. Defending women’s champion Carlè Botha couldn’t participate due to injury.

After a first-round bye, Beckley’s title defence started in similar fashion to last year, cruising through the next two rounds without conceding a single game. It was only in the fourth round that Cooper McCarthy could muster a few game victories, taking three in the second set, but Beckley was just too strong and continued to dominate, easing past McCarthy, and then Vasilios Caripi in the quarters.

A 6-2, 6-2 victory over Shane Furrows in the semi-final set up a final encounter with 11th seed Marc van der Merwe who had fought hard to make his way to the final.

While Van der Merwe did offer Beckley his toughest test yet, the number one seed just continued to power over the line. Beckley took the title with a 6-2, 6-4 victory in front of a sizable crowd that was treated to some great tennis. The straight sets win took Beckley’s unbeaten run at the Mbombela Open to 11 matches.

Beckley’s fortunes couldn’t be replicated in the doubles though as he and his partner Jason Harris lost in the semi-finals to Thando Longwe-Smit and McCarthy.

In the doubles final, singles runner-up Van der Merwe teamed up with Caripi to beat Longwe-Smit and McCarthy 6-4, 7-6, placing the doubles trophy in new hands this year.

The women’s draw was a fascinating competition this year as it was dominated by young and upcoming South African tennis stars. First seed Danielle Chapman looked set to replicate Beckley’s run as she eased her way into the semi-finals, having conceded only six games in the tournament up to that point.

But in the semis she faced off against third seed Karona Rugara who, despite having had a tougher route to the semis, had also dispatched her opponents with relative ease.

Rugara dethroned the top seed in a thrilling three sets encounter that she managed to win 6-2, 6-7(8), 6-3 to make her way into the final. There she’d have to tackle fifth seed Morgan Jordaan who had shown good form throughout the tournament, overcoming second seed Roxy Bredenkamp in the semi-finals.

This placed her in good standing for the final, which would prove to be a tough battle for the crown. Ultimately Jordaan proved too strong, as she clinched a thrilling final 7-5, 7-5 to win her first Mbombela Open title.

Rugara spared her blushes in the doubles competition though as she and Bredenkamp teamed up to beat Jordaan and Chapman 6-2, 7-6. It was the first time that all of the finals of the Mbombela Open featured seeded players, and they definitely didn’t disappoint as they thrilled the spectators with tennis right from the top drawer.

“We are overjoyed by the support of Tennis South Africa which was represented by its president, Gavin Crookes, who led the prize-giving ceremony,” mentioned the tournament director, Sabelo Mathebula, who also revealed that plans are in place to turn the Mbombela Open into an International Tennis Federation (ITF) Futures event next year.

“The ITF and Tennis South Africa have given us a go-ahead to stage an ITF Futures event, which is part of the World Tennis Tour. This will give us an opportunity to have players from over 26 countries around the world. This campaign will start immediately with the engagement of sponsors and partners, which will be followed by our trip to Europe later this year where we will promote the event to the global tennis community. The event will run for two weeks alongside other ITF events in the country, giving our tourism vision a boost.”