NWU Tennis in collaboration with the Riaan Venter Tennis Academy (RVTA) hosted the first ever South African Clay Court Masters tournament for u.12’s this past week (10-13 August) at the Fanie du Toit Sport Grounds.

This momentous occasion saw some of SA’s top young tennis stars battle it out on clay courts for the time at tournament level.

The top 24 boys and 16 girls competed for the main prizes in Potchefstroom.

The boys under 12 winner is Kean de Jager, who beat Juvan van Pletzen by 7-6, 6-3 in an exciting encounter. The girls title went to Gabriella Coetzee who beat Megan van Vuuren by 6-3, 7-6.

The Boys doubles winners were Juvan van Pletzen and Tristan Summers. They beat Cameron Kock and Cruz Newton by 8-3.

Coetzee teamed up with her singles opponent, Van Vuuren as the two won the girls doubles title. They overcame Giana Smith and Taylor White 8-4.

“This is the first in a series of clay court tournaments, which is a first in South Africa.  This is the start of big things for NWU tennis in terms of clay court tennis. It is wonderful to see how the players progressed during the tournament. The u.14, u.16 and open tournaments will also take place in the in the next few weeks,” stated NWU tennis manager, Heléne Botha.

“We’ve received a lot of positive feedback from the u.12 tennis community. Everyone saw why it is important to play on clay from a young age and to build skills and experience on clay. The response regarding the tournament was also really unbelievable. This was the first time that the community experienced the value of having clay courts in the country,” added Riaan Venter, managing director of the Riaan Venter Tennis Academy.

The dates for these clay court tournaments are as follows:

Open (Men and Women): 31 August – 3 September 2023

u.16: Boys and Girls: 19-22 October 2023

u.14: Boys and Girls: 26-29 October 2023