Very many thanks to all those clubs who sent representatives to the Annual General Meeting earlier this month. As Bruce Gray, the President, said in his report, it had been a frustrating year with many hours spent by the Executive in discussions and meetings with various parties trying to get the Ellis Park Tennis Grounds upgraded. It is a source of wonder to us that the whole of the Prescient has been wonderfully upgraded all in preparation for 2010, but sadly we, as the last piece of the jigsaw, have been so far, unsuccessful in our endeavours. We will continue in our quest and in our relationship now with Ellis Park World of Sport, we believe that we can, and will see the upgrading taking place.
One request from the meeting was that this newsletter encompasses more details regarding events and happenings within the Province and at the clubs. This newsletter is your newsletter so if any club has any news that they wish to share with us, then please send it to me on e mail at mike@3w.co.za and I will then include these items in the following newsletter.
Whereas we try and keep up to date with what is taking place around the clubs, we do not catch all the news and happenings, so please feel free to praise yourselves when the occasion arises.
JUNIORS
During the recent school holidays, a very successful tournament was held at Ellis Park and our juniors did us proud. Congratulations to the following;
Nicola Robinson won the girls under 12 title
Lindsay Faure won the girls under 14 title with Kelsey Joffe as runner up
Francesca Bernes won the girls under 16 title with Ashley Brandfield as runner up
Sean van der Vyver won the boys under 18 title
Aidan Carrazedo was runner up in the boys under 14
This is a wonderful achievement for our players and the Province, and coupled with our success at this year’s Junior Inter Provincial, we must claim that our Junior programme is working well, and is a good omen for the future of our Province.
This past weekend we played a match against Gauteng East and the results were as follows;
Under 12 won 10-2
Under 14 drew 6 all
Under 16 won 19-4
Under 18 lost 6-14
These friendly inter provincial matches are a wonderful opportunity not only for our players to get the extra match practise, but to mix with other provincial players, and the spirit of these matches is just as important off the court as it is on the court.
The National Junior Championships are due to be held next month and coupled with the KeyHealth Super 7 event the week before; our juniors have a feast of tennis to look forward to in September. The National Championship is the pinnacle of any juniors’ career, and we wish all those who will play in Bloemfontein, the very best of luck.
SUMMER LEAGUES
A misnomer in a way as that time of the year still seems a way off as yet, but they are under way and in the Bundes League the first weekend saw more surprise results than we have seen over the past couple of years. It was a great start for the newcomers, Morningside County Club in the men and Bryanston Sports Club in the ladies, who both recorded good wins. A report is posted on our web site after each round of matches but in case you missed the first weekend results here they are:
MEN
Morningside Country Club beat German Club 19-9
Killarney beat Marks Park A 19-10
Bedfordview B beat Bedfordview A 18-9
LADIES
German Club beat Marks Park B 16-3
Bryanston Country Club beat Bedfordview 15-3
Bedfordview B beat Marks Park A 13-5
DAVIS CUP TIE AGAINST INDIA
Many thanks to all those clubs who requested tickets for the above tie and we hope to see a lot more of you there over the 18, 19 and 20 September at the Ellis Park Arena. Just to remind you, if we win this tie we go back into the World Group and then rub shoulders with the top playing nations in the world so your support is needed.
Parking is available at the indoor facility in between the swimming pool and the rugby stadium and you have short walk through the totally revamped Precinct into the Grounds.
OTHER NEWS
The final Grand Slam event of the year, the US Open, begins next week with coverage on Supersport. Check your TV schedule for full details.
The tournament will see Scotland’s Andrew Murray seeded at number 2 for the first time in a Grand Slam event. With his victory in Montreal and good showing, despite not being able to defend his Cinncinatti title a week later, he has earned this position with a solid years tennis, and I am sure he will go on to achieve greater things in the future.
With Roger Federer having won his first Masters event for over a year, he too, is running into the type of form needed to possibly record his 6th consecutive US Open title. What of Rafa? Well, he is just coming back after his troublesome knees gave way, but with only playing every other day, the rest may be just what he needs to mount a serious challenge to both Federer and Murray.
It will be compulsive viewing over the next two weeks.
See you at the Davis Cup.
Saturday morning’s squad session at Ellis Park was different and special as our players got to watch the Davis Cup team practice on the 2 resurfaced centre courts. After practice Raven Klaasen and Rik de Voest spoke to our juniors and answered questions, offered advice and signed autographs.
