British player wins Rise Irene Open after only one South African reaches playoff
The inaugural Rise Irene Open, which ushered in a series of four tournaments at ATP Challenger Tour level over the next three months in Centurion, was won by an unseeded British player.
British tennis player Giles Hussey, who celebrated his birthday last Tuesday, gave himself a belated birthday present when he was crowned as the inaugural Rise Irene Open singles champion on Sunday.
The title marks Giles’ first ATP Challenger victory only five days after his 29th birthday.
The tournament was held at the Irene Country Club in Centurion last week. With this victory, Hussey – who entered the tournament as an unseeded player – moved up to the brink of a breakthrough into the top 300 in the ATP rankings. He is now 301st in the rankings after Sunday’s victory.
Players from four continents have entered the event, which is the first of four ATP Challenger Tour level tournaments to be held at the Irene Country Club between May 24 and August 8.
Pretoria-born Devin Badenhorst, who entered the tournament with a wild card, got off to a very good start when he caused one of the first major upsets early in the week. He eliminated fifth seed Akira Santillan of Japan, who had previously been ranked among the top 150 players in the world, in straight sets (6-3; 6-1) on the third day.
Badenhorst was unfortunately eliminated by the eventual champion, Hussey, on day 4. The Briton needed two tiebreakers (7-6; 7-6) to beat the former Midstream College learner.
Photo: Barco Greeff
After South African Davis Cup star Alec Beckley and Luc Koenig (son of former South African star Robbie Koenig) were eliminated on day 5, only South Africa’s current top-seeded Davis Cup player, Phillip Henning, continued to carry the host country’s flag. Unfortunately, Henning – who is currently ranked 315th in the ATP rankings and was seeded sixth for the Rise Irene tournament – was eliminated in the quarter-finals on day 6 by second seed Stefano Napolitano of Italy (6-3; 7-5).
Napolitano eventually lost the semi-final to the young Australian, Edward Winter, in three sets (1-6; 6-1; 5-7). Winter, currently ranked 448th in the ATP rankings, was also unseeded for the Rise Irene Open, meaning two unseeded players reached the final.
Hussey eventually beat Winter in straight sets (6-3; 6-3) in the final, earning 50 ATP points.
In a post-match interview, Hussey, who reached the final after a gruelling three-set semi-final victory over seventh seed Eliakim Coulibaly of Ivory Coast (7-5; 6-4; 2-6), described his win as special, considering his connection to South Africa.
“I have some family members in South Africa, so I’ve grown up spending quite a bit of time here. South Africa holds a special place in my heart. To win my first ATP Challenger title is very special,” he remarked.
The champion dedicated the win to his father, who made a surprise journey from the United Kingdom to witness the final.
The next tournament in the series of four, the Rise Centurion Open, kicked off on Monday and will conclude on Sunday (June 7) when the final will be decided.
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