Curro Centre Court Series in Stellenbosch saw some great wins and losses.
South African fans were hoping that both the men’s and women’s South African singles players would secure titles on Sunday. But the gallant 15-year old South African women’s player, Jahnie van Zyl, succumbed to the fourth seeded South Korean Jeong Beyoung, in the Women15 (W15)-final on Sunday.
Jeong won a pulsating contest 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) largely thanks to her excellent retrieving qualities on a blistering day. Defensively she produced a master class during the 133 minutes in a match characterized by long eye-catching rallies against Van Zyl. The latter is an amazing shot-maker whose splendid movement and five-star ground shots made her a crowd pleaser during the first week of the Curro Centre Court Series in Stellenbosch.
Van Zyl showed remarkable qualities and fought like a Trojan in the final against Jeong. The South African teen sensation was broken four times during the first set but broke back on two occasions. In the fifth game, she hammered a blistering double-handed backhand down the line to get back to 2-3.
Van Zyl’s movement during this attractive tussle from the back of the court was a bonus. She was almost never wrong-footed, and her superb ground strokes would have proven too much against most opponents at this level.
But Jeong defended by using a variety of slice, top-spin ground strokes and moonballs. Van Zyl found it difficult to get onto the front foot and dominate against such a spectacular defender.
The South African player turned up the heat against Jeong in the second set and gained a 3-0 advantage. Jeong fought back bravely as Van Zyl tightened up just a little bit in the middle of the second set.
“The turning point for me was the way I fought back in the second set after being down -0-3,” Jeong said afterwards. “By erasing the deficit and gaining the 4-3 lead, I was able to gain the upper hand..”
Van Zyl admitted that her first serve let her down on a few occasions. “But this was still one of my greatest tournament-achievements ever, as I beat the second seed Stephanie Visscher in the semi-finals and reached my first-ever ITF Futures Women15 (W15)-final,” Van Zyl now ranked 175th in the world on the ITF junior world rankings, said.
The South African 3rd seeded player, Philip Henning, cruised to an emphatic 6-4, 6-1 victory against the unseeded German, Nino Ehrenschneider, in the final of the Curro Centre Court Series at the Van der Stel courts in Stellenbosch on Sunday 8th December.
Henning needed 80 minutes to dispose of Ehrenschneider. He broke in the first game of the match and needed only the singular break to coast to the first set – 6-4.
In the second set, Henning broke three times – in the third, fifth and seventh games.
The reason for his dominance was the way in which he blunted the power of the German’s first serve. He hardly faltered when returning, and when Ehrenschneider ventured to the net, he was passed or forced into an error.
Henning’s win was his second in the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Futures in the Curro Centre Court series.
“I have worked extremely hard to get more free points when I launch my first serve, and I have also tried to add more punch to my forehands this year,” said Henning.
“It is great to win a second Curro Centre Court Series title, and my sixth Futures title overall in 2024,” the victor added.
“Curro is proud to partner with Tennis South Africa to sponsor and host this Centre Court Series,” said Jared Temlett, Project Manager for Curro Sport.
“We have hosted ITF Junior tournaments for top-ranking players from all over the world over the last few years. However, the Curro Centre Court Series expands our efforts, catering for professional players and offering significant prize purses.”
“With more than 73 000 learners in over 180 schools, Curro is inspired daily by incredible talent and potential. And what incredible talent we have just seen with a 15-year-old South African turning out in a final,” he said.
“Generally, South African players have to travel to other countries to play in tournaments of this calibre because there are very few events of this nature hosted locally. Our series this year has been proof of the need for South Africans to play this level of event within the borders of the country.
“A total of 21 South African men and 20 women played here this week and earned a total of 84 WTA and ATP world ranking points. Of the 41 South Africans who competed, 28 are younger than 18 years old,” said Temlett.
The series continues this week until 15 December.
