Weltevreden Park Tennis Club bring the magic of SW19 to their hard courts

Any surface will do when importing prestige and adulation.

Weltevreden Park Tennis Club (WPTC) hosted its annual celebration of the world’s finest grass court tournament, on July 8. Usually a member-exclusive event, this year WPTC extended invites to clubs in the northern suburbs to broaden the network of the tennis fraternity.

Players were at the venue bright and early to fuel up with breakfast before the 24 competitors were divided into four unforgiving six-man groups. Only the top two from each group would progress to the knockout round and each match would begin on a knife edge as it would be a single-set shootout with a tiebreak at six games each if necessary.

The compressed tournament was a test of stamina with the final eight only decided in the late afternoon. After an early dinner and a customary serving of strawberries and cream, WPTC’s 2023 singles champion Yusuf Coovadia would face visiting Faizal Jalla in the first semi-final while another visiting pair, Chris Oertel and Cristiano Guadagnini, would contest the second semi

Faizal ended the WPTC chairperson’s shot at the second trophy this year while Cristiano overcame a spirited Chris. With the sun having set long ago, Cristiano and Faizel took the court near 21:00, with Cristiano proving unstoppable to become the 2023 WPTC Wimbledon Singles Championship.

WPTC chairperson Yusuf Coovadia kept the spirits high all day and was thrilled with the overall enthusiasm. Warmly thanking his friends in tennis, he said “This year the standard and high-quality tennis displayed was phenomenal by all players. We attracted players from different clubs and thank all participants for their commitment and sportsmanship. We aim to grow the event further in 2024 and will look forward. Well done to the winner Christisno and the runner-up Faizel for a well-played final.”