Badenhorst marches on at Samaai Junior Open

South African junior tennis star Devin Badenhorst advanced to the singles semifinals on Thursday at the Samaai Junior Open when his Kazakhstani opponent Max Batyutenko retired in the first set of their quarterfinal match-up due to injury.

The 18-year-old Badenhorst, seeded third, was up 5-0 when Batyutenko decided to pull out after just nearly 20 minutes of action.

“My singles match today was pretty short, but I felt good,” said Badenhorst.

“I started off well and didn’t give him (Max Batyutenko) a chance.

“I feel very happy with myself for getting this far and hopefully I can win the title as Kholo Montsi did in 2019 and give hope to other South Africans,” added Badenhorst.

Badenhorst becomes the first South African junior to reach the semifinals of an ITF Grade A tournament since Khololwam Montsi in 2019.

The third-seeded Badenhorst will meet second-seeded French Paul Gazeu, who is ranked 46th in the world, in the semifinal after the Frenchman beat American fifth-seed Yannik Rahman in three sets in their quarter-final match.

Later in the day, Badenhorst joined forces with Anro Nel in the doubles semifinal round. The South African pair, seeded fourth, defeated French duo of Jules le Roux and Theo Papamalamis 6-4, 6-4 to the doubles showpiece.

In the girls’ event, the last remaining South African player in the main draw, Heike Janse van Vuuren, bowed out of the competition.

The eighth-seeded Janse van Vuuren of Riaan Venter Tennis Academy’s run ended at the hands of last week’s J1 Durban champion, Ella McDonald, from Britain. The fourth-seeded British defeated Janse van Vuuren 6-4, 7-5 to set up a semi-final clash with Belgian top seed and world No. 3 Sofia Costoulas.

Costoulas made light work of Aruzhan Sagandikova to brush aside the Kazakhstani 6-4, 6-4 to advance.

The singles semifinal and doubles final round starts on Friday morning.

RESULTS

Singles

Quarterfinals

Boys

3-Devin Badenhorst (RSA) bt 6-Max Batyutenko (KAZ) 5-0 Batyutenko retired
2-Paul Gazeu (FRA) bt 5-Yannik Rahman (USA) 7-5, 5-7, 6-3
7-Danil Panarin (RUS) bt Rei Sakamoto (JPN) 1-0 Sakamoto retired
8-Antoine Ghibaudo (FRA) bt Leanid Boika (USA) 6-3, 6-3

Girls

1-Sofia Costoulas (BEL) bt 6-Aruzhan Sagandinkova (KAZ) 5-7, 6-4, 6-4
4-Ella McDonald (GBR) bt 8-Heike Janse van Vuuren (RSA) 6-4, 7-5
2-Yaroslava Bartashevich (FRA) bt 7-Sandugash Kenzhibayeva (KAZ) 6-2, 4-6, 7-5
Melisa Ercan (TUR) bt Yoana Konstantinova (BUL) 6-3, 6-2

Doubles

Semifinals

Boys

4-Devin Badenhorst / Anro Nel (RSA) bt Jules Le Roux / Theo Papamalamis (FRA) 6-4, 6-4
2-Paul Gazeu / Antoine Ghibaudo (FRA) bt Daniel Crowie / Francois (RSA) 6-2, 6-3