Ohlule Senti of South Africa and Catarina Braun of Portugal won the boys and girls singles titles at the ITF J30 tournament after contrasting victories in the finals on Saturday.
Competing at the Central Tennis Courts in Olympia, the top seeded Senti had to pull out all the stops to beat Namibia’s second seeded Israel Dowie 6-4, 6-4, but Braun found the going much easier as she cruised to a 6-3, 6-2 victory against the top seeded Milan Swanepoel of South Africa.
The boys final could have gone either way with service breaks by both players, who impressed with their solid groundstrokes and long rallies from the baseline.
After some early service breaks Sentie broke Dowie a second time to edge 5-3 ahead before taking the first set 6-4.
In the second set, Dowie streaked into a 3-0 lead, but Sethie immediately fought back to draw level at 3-3, before once again breaking Dowie’s serve to go 5-4 ahead.
In the final game, Dowie showed great tenacity and nerves of steel to save seven match points, before Sethie finally won the match with a forehand crosscourt winner.
Dowie’s father, Duane, who coaches both boys at the Anthony Harris Tennis Academy in Cape Town, says he is proud of them both.
“It’s a tough one because I’m also the coach of Ohlu and I can’t really support a player, even though Israel is my son. At the end of the day, we were super proud that both of our players reached the final and of course, we are going home with the winner’s medal,” he says.
“Both of them showed a tremendous mentality and fighting spirit and they also showed that they are here to fight for what they want, because they understand that no dream is realised without sacrifice and investment. These kids are working six hours a day, and then they still have to go to school, which is just admirable at the end of the day,” he adds.
In the semi-finals, Senti beat his unseeded compatriot, Nicholas Kruger, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, while Dowie beat the sixth seeded Matthis Thorsnes of Norway 6-0, 7-5.
Senti and Dowie teamed up to win the doubles title after a tough three-setter (6-4, 5-7, 10-6) against the fourth-seeded Norwegian pair of Thorsnes and Henrik Aaman.
In the women’s singles, the second seeded Braun won the title after a comfortable straight sets victory (6-3, 6-2) against the top seeded South African Milan Swanepoel.
Braun was far more consistent with her solid groundstrokes from the baseline while Swanepoel made far too many unforced errors.
In the semi-finals, Swanepoel beat compatriot Megan van Vuuren 6-2, 6-2, while Braun beat the sixth seeded South African Botshelo Diseko 6-3, 5-7, 6-1.
In the girls doubles competition, the top seeded Swanepoel and her Australian team mate Ceressa Jackson won the title after a thrilling three setter (2-6, 6-4, 15-13) against the second seeds, Diseko and Chanelle Zhuwakini.
In the semi-finals, Jackson and Swanepoel beat the fourth seeds, Courtney Kemp and Tatum Venter of South Africa, 6-1, 6-4, while Diseko and Zhuwakini beat the third seeds Braun and Megan van Vuuren of South Afrrica 7-5, 5-7, 12-10.
The Namibia Tennis Association will now host a second ITF J60 junior tournament starting at the same venue this morning.
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