Double Cuatro defence for Daniel
Several weeks of tennis excitement have drawn to a close.
Daniel Francesconi produced some dazzling tennis to dominate the final day of the Ugu Tennis Association 2025 Cuatro Tennis Tournament.
It all came to a sunshine-soaked conclusion at Southbroom Tennis Club last Sunday, where Daniel defended his singles title with a 6-1, 6-3 win against the steadily improving powerhouse that is Bjorn Wikstrom.
“The scoreline doesn’t necessarily indicate how close it was at times,” said Daniel.
Daniel then teamed up with his still super-skilful father, Stef, to defend their doubles title, beating Bjorn and his partner Brendan Els 6-1, 6-2.
The Francesconi pair seemed to intuitively know where to be and which way to move, anticipating where the ball was going and having so much time to execute some astonishing winners.
Stef was lethal at the net, while Daniel’s backhand (complete with a hybrid Cam Norrie/Daniil Medvedev grip) was outstanding.
There was one rare error, a shot that may have made a Bloopers reel, where a crisply hit forehand from Daniel clipped his dad’s shirt, thus meaning a loss of point.
It wasn’t like Bjorn and Brendan played badly; they just weren’t allowed to settle.
“I feel like Zverev in the Slams, making the finals but can’t win one,” said Bjorn with a rueful grin.
Still, it was an absorbing final with some thrilling rallies where the fur was ripped off the ball.
Between these two matches, the finals of the mixed doubles plate was played at a more sedate pace, with siblings David Rush and Robyn Olivant beating husband and wife pair Allan and Karin Collocott 6-1, 6-1.
Robyn struck some sweetly timed forehands to keep the pressure on, and the Collocotts didn’t have much luck on some net cord shots, otherwise, it may have been closer.
On a lighter note, someone perhaps needs to have a chat to David about his retina-scorching yellow shirt.
Unfortunately, the women’s singles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles finals could not be played as Zelda Smook sustained a broken finger during the week and had to forfeit.
It meant the titles went to Liesl Smith (singles), Liesl and Cheryse Wikstrom (women’s doubles) and Liesl and Brendan Els (mixed).
Runners-up then, respectively, were Zelda (singles), with Sharon van der Schyff (doubles) and Stef Francesconi (mixed).
Renee Purtell was awarded the sportsmanship trophy.
All in all, despite a few hiccups along the way it was a hugely successful tournament with credit due to organiser Sharon van der Schyff and the committee.
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