Last SA athlete bows out of world tennis tournament
Damien Nezar is the last South African athlete eliminated from the International Tennis Federation Grade 3 junior tennis tournament.
The South African athlete, Damien Nezar, was eliminated from the international tennis federation grade 3 junior tennis tournament at Rietondale Tennis Club in Pretoria on Thursday.
This after the 17-year-old suffered a 6-2 6-2 defeat to the number two seed in the tournament, Moroccan Eissa Benchakroun, in the semi-finals.
He was the last South African remaining in the tournament.
Although discouraged by his loss, Nezar was delighted to make it into the semi-finals.
“I am a bit disappointed about the outcome of today’s game,” he said.
“However, I am happy about my overall performance. For the first time, I have made it into the semi-finals. ”
He said the game was a learning curve for him and he would use the tricks of his opponent to improve his performance.
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“I have learnt a lot from the loss and will use the gained experience to my advantage in my career.”
He praised Benchakroun for his outstanding performance.
“My opponent played well.”
Out of ten South Africans, who formed part of the 32 contestants in the boys’ singles main draw, Nezar was the only local to make it into the semi-finals.
His bow-out followed that of Carl Roothman who lost 6-3 5-7 6-2 to Tunisian Elyes Marouani in the quarter-finals.
Nezar will participate in the Africa Junior Championships at Tuks high performance centre in Pretoria from Monday to Friday.
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