Israel’s Maayan Laron and South Africa’s Connor Doig won the girls’ and boys’ singles finals at the J200 International Tennis Federation (ITF) tournament at Curro Hillcrest in Durban on Saturday, 14 September 2024.
In its ongoing support of tennis in South Africa, Curro Holdings sponsored and hosted the tournament. Sanctioned by Tennis South Africa, the event saw some of the top ranked boys and girls U18 players from around the world do battle on the court.
It was an all Israel girls’ final as Laron (17) took on fellow countrywoman and No 2 seed Mika Buchnik (17) in a match of attrition which lasted just short of two hours, Laron the victor 7/5, 6/2. The result was an encounter that saw more service breaks than holds and rallies of 15 or more shots being the norm. The first set lasted an hour and 15 minutes as fortunes swung back and forth like a pendulum as one service break was immediately nullified by another.
Leron edged 6-5 ahead after another service break and managed to hold and serve out the set 7/5. The second set saw more of the same as Laron enjoyed two early breaks for a 3-0 lead which proved too much for Buchnik to make up.
“It was a tough, tiring match and I had to work hard and concentrate. I have played Mika before and have now won our last two matches,” said Maayan. “I’m in the right place heading into the coming week’s J300 tournament.”
Buchnik, while satisfied with her week’s work was frustrated with her loss. “Maayan is like a wall as she just keeps getting the ball back. It was a hard match and mistakes at vital times cost me,” she said.
Doig (16), who hails from Westville, took out Australia’s Ty Host (17) 6/0, 7/6, settling quickly in knocking off the first set in quick time. It was a set of two fortunes as basic unforced errors cost Host, while Doig could do no wrong.
Credit to Host for coming out for the second set with more grit and determination, breaking Doig early for a 3-0 lead and the possibility of forcing a deciding third set. However, the nasty errors refused to be left behind and all the good work was undone as Doig broke back and held serve to level at 3-3. The players shared a few more breaks and at 6-6, they headed into a tie break.
Some close line calls bothered Host who fell away in the tie-break which Doig took 7-0 to claim the set 7/6 and the title.
“It’s the first time I have played Ty and he is a strong player. He came back well in the second set and I had to dig deep to stay in the set, let alone go on and win,’ said Doig. “This is my biggest tennis win to date and I hope to stay on the same level next week.”
It was a case of what could have been for Host. “I took some time to settle and that’s just nerves. I started the second set well but credit to Connor for how he fought back.”
In the girls’ doubles, the Russian pair of Anna Bazderova and Ksenia Smirnova beat Mika Buchnik (Israel) and Anna Maria Fedotova (Dominican Republic) and No 1 seeds, 6/1, 6/3 and in the boys’ doubles final, Nikolai Barsukov (Germany) and Jacob Olar (USA), the No 3 seeds, beat Ivan Lutkin (Russia) and Kriish Tyagi (India), the No 2 seeds, 6/0, 1/6, 11-9.
Tennis continues at Curro Hillcrest with the J300 tournament from 16 to 21 September
