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Local disabled tennis star bags two international titles in two weeks

A young wheelchair tennis star form Pretoria has recently won two international titles within two weeks.

South African number two wheelchair tennis women’s player Mariska Venter and partner Emmanuelle Morch from France staged an eye-catching display to clinch their first doubles title together after triumphing at the Ath Open in Belgium last week.

Venter and Morch, the second seeds, came from a set down to beat Macarena Cabrillana from Chile and Michaela Spaanstra from the Netherlands 3-6 6-1 [10-8] in just over an hour.

It was their first International Tennis Federation (ITF) level 3 title as a pair.

The 21-year-old Venter also won the Memorial Jens Open doubles title two weeks ago, teaming up with Donna Jansen from the Netherlands for her second doubles crown in the ITF Futures tournament at the Royal Ter Rivieren Tennis Club in Antwerp two years consecutively.

In the singles event, Venter’s run was ended by world number 8 Katharina Kruger (GER) in the round of 16. The German defeated the former world number 1 junior 6-1 6-1.

“I am so happy to have won two titles in two weeks and winning my first Ath Open with Emmanuelle, who has become my close friend on tour. We enjoyed playing together and played amazing tennis,” commented Venter who was ‘all thumbs up’ about her partnership with Morch.

She said she played some great matches and she is happy with the progress she made.

“The hard work we have put in with my team prior to this tour has really shown during the past few weeks. I feel like I am a level up from where I was, I am way too competitive and playing arguably my best tennis at the moment. However, there are still a few things that I still need to work on and as soon as I get home will get on court to try improving on them,” Venter said.

The young star from Pretoria also thanked her sponsors who made it possible for her to take part in these events.

 

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Koos Venter

Koos Venter is an experienced journalist who started his career 35 years ago, before the days of cellphones, modern computer systems, the internet and digital cameras, as a correspondent for Nexus, the former national magazine of the Department of Correctional Services. He has since worked for various other publications in all aspects of news coverage, as a columnist and in the production side of newspapers and online publications. Since 2007 he has specialized as a sports writer, while he is also regularly used as an analyst and commentator by several radio stations.
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