In an exciting step forward for the sport, Tennis South Africa (TSA) will host three high-profile junior international tournaments in July and August, including the first-ever ITF Grade 1 event to be held in the country.
The junior series will open with an ITF Grade 2 tournament at Curro Hillcrest in Durban, followed by an ITF Grade 1 event at the same venue, with both competitions made possible with the support of Curro Holdings.
The second competition will be the first-ever ITF Grade 1 event to be held in South Africa.
“The ITF tournaments are the Gold Standard in junior and professional tennis. These events put South Africa on the map and provide an opportunity for our local juniors to be exposed to top talent, which not only improves their game but also their ranking, should they win.
"Curro has invested heavily into its tennis offering and we now pride ourselves in the development of high-performance tennis players. It is an honour to host two tournaments in this year’s series and we are exceptionally proud of the Curro tennis players who will also be participating,” comments Jared Temlett, Curro Tennis Business Manager.
And, in another breakthrough for local junior tennis, the third and final tournament of the series will be the Samaai Junior Open, an elite ITF Grade A event to be held at TuksTennis, University of Pretoria. The event will return for the third year but has been moved from Cape Town to Tshwane.
The Samaai Junior Open, named after South African tennis legend David Samaai, will be held in partnership with TuksSport. This tournament is one of only six junior Grade A tournaments on the international circuit - the others are held in the United States, Japan, Mexico, Italy, and Brazil.
Outside of the four Junior Grand Slams, Grade A tournaments are the most prestigious events on the ITF Junior Tour and carry the highest-ranking points, which will not only attract some of the world's best young players to the capital city but will also give young South African prospects a chance to rake in points on home soil.
“We would like to thank Curro Holdings and TuksSport for their support in making these events happen. This is a massive boost for high-performance junior tennis on the continent and is also a clear sign of our intent to bring more international events to South Africa,” said TSA CEO, Andre Homan.
“These events provide a great platform for some of our rising junior stars to test themselves against the world’s best, without having to travel outside South Africa,” added Homan.
Schedule, 2022 ITF junior tournaments:
23 - 30 July 2022 - Curro ITF Grade 2 (Curro Hillcrest, Durban)
30 July - 6 August 2022 - Curro ITF Grade 1 (Curro Hillcrest, Durban)
6 -13 August - ITF Grade A (TuksTennis, University of Pretoria)