Having won the recent Marks Park Open, Calitz continued with his dominant form to crush Hilton Nyakabau in the semi final and then repeat his West  Rand Open  win of last year over Werner Knuppe, also without dropping a game. Both Nyakabau and Knuppe are accomplished players, but such is the gulf between Calitz and the other local players at the moment that he was able to brush them aside with almost contemptuous ease.

His ability to manufacture passing shots, particularly down the line, had his opponents firstly confused and then bewildered. He controlled the rallies to his pace to frustrate both of his opponents.

Knuppe had walked the proverbial tight rope before winning his semi final against Danie Buys. Buys, who last week defeated the second seed Damien Hume, led 5-1 and 9-7 in the Pro Set tie break in the final set. Knuppe’s resilience ensured that despite having to fend off those two match points, he fought is way back to win an enthralling encounter but he was no match for Pieter Calitz in the final.

In the ladies event, Chennel Symonds was not quite as dominant but won the final beating Veronique Luksich for the loss of only one game. Although Luksich displayed her own brand of positive tennis, she was unable to make any headway against the harder hitting and more aggressive Symonds. Add to that her foot work, which is a model for any young player to day, ensured that she was seldom caught out of position.

Symonds had her toughest time in the first set of her semi final against Hayley Rudman which she finally won 6-4 when Rudman was guilty of too many unforced errors at vital moments. Once the first set was secure, Symonds enjoyed the freedom to express her greater range of shots and aggressive attitude to dominate the second set and win that 6-1.

After a somewhat slow start, Lukschi easily beat Carmen Spence 6-4 6-0 in the other semi final.

RESULTS

Semi Finals

Men: P Calitz (1) bt H Nyakabu 60 60.

         W Knuppe bt  D Buys 63 26 11 9

Ladies: V Luksich bt C Spence 64 60

             C Symonds bt H Rudman 64 61

Finals

Men : Calitz bt Knuppe 60 60

Ladies: Symonds bt Luksich 61 60

Play off for 3^rd and 4^th place

Men : Buys bt Nyakabu 64 01 retired

Ladies: Rudman bt Spence 75 61.

Calitz, who has dominated the local tournament scene lately and was undefeated in last years Bundes League, won his opening two singles matches for the loss of just 7 games to continue his authoritive play.

Second seed, Damien Hume easily won his opening round match and then recovered from the loss of the first set to Danie Buys to win the second set 61. However, he was unable to continue this dominance in the Super Tie break, and was edged out 10 8.

Werner Knuppe will wish to play any of the Vaglietti brothers, anytime. First he beat Roberto 61 61, and then accounted for the third seed Giovanni in a much tighter match 75 64 to now face Buys in the semi final.

Hilton Nyakarau had a good win over fourth seed Uys Jordaan 64 75 to set up an unenviable semi final meeting with Pieter Calitz.

In the ladies event, the top seed Tarryn Rudman had to withdraw just prior to the start. The semi final line up sees Carmen Spence face Veronique Luksich who beat Rachelle Dennett 62 61, while Channel Symonds, who beat Lisa Wade  61 64 will face Hayley Rudman who accounted for Shaylin Williams 63 61.

The semi finals will be played at Ellis Park on Sunday 18 May at 09:00 followed by the finals.

RESULTS

Mens singles First Round

P Calitz (1) bt W.Ngoma 62 60: C Kuschka bt E Thalmin 46 62 10 6: H Nyakarau bt S Thomas 62 61: U Jordaan (4) bt W Spence 62 76(7): G Vaglietti (3) bt C Sochanski 61 61: W Knuppe bt R Vaglietti 63 62: D Buys bt G Jordaan 64 61: D Hume (2) bt B Tyson 61 61,

Second Round

Calitz (1) bt Kuschka 63 62: Nyakarau by  Jordaan (4) 64 75:  Knuppe bt Vaglietti (3) 75 64 : Buys bt Hume (2) 63 16 10 8.

Ladies Singles First Round

C Spence bt S Anderson w/o: V Luksich bt R Dennett 62 61: H Rudman bt S Williams 63 61: C Symonds bt L Wade 61 64.