Joanivia Bezuidenhout reached a new milestone when she won her first title on the International Tennis Federation’s Africa junior circuit in Lusaka, Zambia, over the weekend.
Teaming up with top Zimbabwean junior player Rutendo Tom, they won the junior girls’ doubles title after beating the Chisongo twin sisters, Christabel and Isabel, 6-2, 6-3 in the final.
Bezuidenhout (17) says she formed a great partnership with Tom.
“I had a great run in the doubles competition with my partner Rutendo Tom from Zimbabwe. It was the first time we played together, but we had such great chemistry on the court.
“We helped each other, played smart and aggressive, and we had our eyes set on the trophy, which was a great motivation for both of us,” she says.
As the top seeds for the doubles, they received a first-round bye to progress to the quarter-finals where they comfortably beat Beulah Kaseke of Zimbabwe and Aridia Musuama of DRC 6-0, 6-3.
In the semi-finals, they came up against the fourth seeds, Pariya Patel and Swasti Singh of India, and received stiffer opposition before winning in three sets, 7-5, 2-6, 10-1.
Bezuidenhout also competed in the singles competition, but failed to reach the knockout stages after being eliminated in the round robin competition.
She beat Mitress Nalwizya of Zambia 2-6, 6-1, 10-8, but then suffered two defeats to Swasti Singh of India (7-5, 6-4) and Winnie Masemola of South Africa (4-6, 6-3, 10-3) to finish third in her round robin group, while only the top two progressed to the knockout stages.
Bezuidenhout’s partner Tom, meanwhile, reached the singles final where she lost 6-3, 6-3 to the top seeded South African Lea Dube. Another South African, Tshepang Maisela, won the boys’ singles title after beating Makanaka Whata of Zimbabwe 7-6, 6-2 in the final.
Bezuidenhout says she was not at her best after getting injured before the start of the tournament.
“I came into this tournament looking to get great results, but unfortunately I injured my wrist right at the start of the tournament, and even though I struggled, I decided to play all my matches through the pain.
“All my scores were close, but didn’t go as I hoped, but I’m still proud of myself for continuing and testing my limits,” she says.
Bezuidenhout says the tournament was good preparation for upcoming tournaments that she will compete in.
“I think this tournament was great preparation for the Billie Jean King Cup and the Region 5 Games that are coming up. I learned not to give up when things get tough, to face my challenges, and not run away from them,” she says.
“Most importantly, I trusted in God’s plan and timing, and he blessed me with my first International Tennis Federation doubles title. I had so much support from a lot of people – my family, my dad, who’s also my coach, and my friends, which was really special.
“It was a fun tournament and there was a great crowd and atmosphere in Zambia. They did a great job hosting the tournament for the first time after 23 years,” she says.
