Connor Doig paves the way of success through TSA Junior Nationals victory
Parkmore resident and St Stithians learner Connor Doig wins major national tennis competition.
The saying ‘Rome wasn’t built in one day’ can be displayed through a lot of prominent sports figures who have faced trials and tribulations in their sports journeys.
Connor Doig, who has been playing tennis since he turned three, recently accomplished his dreams of winning the U18 Growthpoint Junior Nationals organised by the Tennis South Africa (TSA).
The tournament, which started on March 30, saw an abundance of talented young individuals from different parts of the country competing in the Free State. One of those talented players was Parkmore’s very own Connor Doig who had been serving up a storm during the tournament.
The St Stithians College learner shared his tennis origin. “Growing up, my parents would encourage me to play as many sports as I could. I think at that stage of my life tennis stuck with me. Since I started playing at the age of three, my driving force and coach has always been Ndu Ncube.”
With 64 participants in the tournament, Connor was shell-shocked to find himself playing in the finals on April 4.
“It was a weird day. It started to rain in the morning. Finally, after an hour, the organisers started clearing up and I started to do my warm-ups with my coach. Due to the rain and the other matches, my game was a bit delayed. The nerve-wracking thing was that it was being televised but once I started playing, my nerves were no longer there,” said Connor.
The player went on to defeat Rohan Loubser [4–6, 6–3, 6–2] in the final which brought joy to his mother, who has been supporting him since he started his journey, and his coach of 13 years.
His coach Ndu Ncube said, “It’s a surreal moment that he won the nationals. To be honest, it’s very hard to describe because it’s 13 years of hard work that we put in. This is just the tip of the iceberg.”
When asked about the future, the young star said that he would love to pursue his dreams of going pro while studying abroad.
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