March is the month of world class tennis in Potch

During the upcoming weeks, the North-West University (NWU) will be hosting some of the rising stars of international tennis on its Potchefstroom Campus. First up will be the Ilana Kloss International – week one (Women’s $25,000 ITF World Tour) and The North-West University Open (Men’s $25,000 ITF World Tour event) followed by the Ilana Kloss International – week two (Women’s $25,000 ITF World Tour) and the Potchefstroom Open (an ATP Challenger 50 event).

The Ilana Kloss International – week one and The North-West University Open, will be held from 2 to 8 March, followed by the ATP Challenger 50 and week 2 of the Ilana Kloss International – which will run from 9-15 March.

The NWU, which has completed phase one of a significant multi-million-rand investment into its tennis facilities, is gearing up for a bumper two weeks of international tennis tournaments.

Mr Sheldon Rostron, Manager of Sport at the Potchefstroom Campus remarked that it remains a privilege to be associated with Tennis South Africa in joining hands to host these prestigious events. “We are grateful for the partnership and the opportunity in building and developing tennis across South Africa and the African Continent, and we pride ourselves in the facilities that we have unveiled.”   The university is looking forward to hosting many more events like this and assisting South Africa in developing and attracting young talent and future stars to the NWU, as well as building a unique space for high performance in tennis.

Various individuals at the university, including Prof Daryl Balia, deputy vice-chancellor: IT and Potchefstroom Campus Operations have assisted in making this a reality and to constantly build on the vision and dreams of many youngsters in South Africa. The roles played by Ms Helene Botha (NWU Tennis Manager), Mr Riaan Venter (RVTA Tennis Academy) and many others have contributed to the success of this facility and the upcoming events.

The events will feature a mix of international and home-grown tennis players such as South Africa’s top women’s player, Chanel Simmonds, British world no.213 Samantha Sharon, German-Jamaican star, Dustin Brown, men’s world no 227 Alexandre Muller, Evgeny Karlovskiy of Russia and Serbian player Pedja Krstin.

The ITF World Tennis Tour events serves as the entry level for professional tennis and sits between the ITF Junior World Tennis Tour and the elite levels of women and men’s professional tennis. Meanwhile, Challenger events are the second highest level of international men’s ATP tennis tournaments, after the ATP Tour (250, 500 and Masters events). The last ATP Challenger to take place in South Africa was hosted in Soweto in 2013.

Each tournament will include singles and doubles draws for men and women. The tournaments have attracted players from over 25 nations including France, Great Britain, Italy, Serbia, Germany, Spain, Australia, Netherlands, India, Argentina and more.