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Words: Bianca Morkel ǀ Photos: Courtesy of Wheelchair Tennis South Africa
SA Open is 1st Super Series
for Africa
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Marjolein Buis (NED) No 5. internationally, runner up at the Airports Company South Africa SA Open 2012
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It is with great pride, joy and excitement that WTSA (Wheelchair Tennis South Africa) look forward to hosting six events on the NEC Wheelchair Tennis World Tour in 2013. The events range from entry level international events to a Super Series event, the highest level event on the tour. By hosting the range of events locally, we allow more of our players the opportunity of gaining world ranking points and improving their international standing without the expense of travelling abroad.
South Africa can be very proud of our achievements to date: • We are the only African nation to host six international events annually. • We are the country with the most players on the international ranking, surpassed only by Japan. • We host a quads event at each tournament. • We were one of three nations globally to have a player qualify for the Paralympics in all three divisions. • We have been the only country in Africa to host the BNP World Team Cup.
We are now also the first and only African county to be awarded the honour of hosting a Super Series level event. This is a major achievement as the ITF only offer six Super Series events globally, and can be equated to a Grand Slam level event on the able-bodied tour. Hosting a Super Series event in South Africa has been a goal that we are proud to have now realised, and we would like to thank our sponsors, Airports Company South Africa, as well as the ITF (International Tennis Federation) and the NEC for their support and assistance in helping us to realise this dream. We at WTSA don’t only want to host the best event on the World Tour but want to make it memorable and attractive for the players. WTSA are therefore hosting a high grade warm up event the week preceding the Super Series.
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Lucas Sithole and Kg Montjane the defending champions at the upcoming Airports Company South Africa Gauteng Open 3-7 April 2013
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KG Montjane, SA's no.1 in the women's division ranked no.10 internationally.Kg lost to Marjolein Buis in the semi finals at the Airports Company South Africa SA Open 2012
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The first tournament, the Airports Company South Africa Gauteng Open, is a Grade 1 Tour event and will be played at the Gauteng East Tennis Centre, 3 Lakeview Road, Lakeview, Benoni from 3–7 April, 2013. The second, the Airports Company South Africa SA Open, is the prestigious Super Series event, and will be played at Ellis Park Tennis Stadium, Bertams, Johannesburg from 9–13 April, 2013. We would like to invite the public to come and support the event and the players. It is a sporting event that will not only impress but also inspire you. You are guaranteed to walk aware in awe of the human spirit and the exceptional sporting ability of the individuals. Entrance is free, and support welcomed. We expect that by running two high grade events back to back, we will entice the top players in the world to participate and draw a significant size entry from both South Africa and abroad. This is both an exciting and unique opportunity as our top players will be able to take on the world's best in their backyards, and showcase their exceptional talent to a home crowd. We believe that with the support and assistance from Airports Company South Africa, NLDTF and SRSA over the past seven years, South Africa now has title hopefuls in at least two of the four divisions. Players to watch for and get behind are Lucas Sithole, SA’s No. 1 Quad and No. 6 in the world, who narrowly lost to the World No. 1 at the Paralympics. Kgothatso Montjane, SA’s No. 1 lady and world No. 10. Kgothatso, plagued by injury in the latter part of 2012, beat world No. 1 in the run up to the Paralympics and has something to prove. Gift Lekganyane, our top junior, is ranked world No. 2, and Mariska Venter, our No. 1 girl and ranked No. 4 in the world. Other players to watch out for are Evans Maripa, SA’s No. 1 player in the Men’s division and world No. 27. Evans has shot up the world ranking over 50 spots in less than ten months, and is one of the true talents on the tour. •
èRelated articles:
• Wheelchair Tennis SA Celebrates International Disability Day (Digital article Nov '12) • London Calls Wheeling Tennis Stars (Digital article Aug '12)
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For more information on the event, please contact Karen or Bianca on email pr@tennis.co.za. If you are interested in joining the regional programmes, trying your hand at tennis, or would like a copy of our calendar please contact Siya on email siya@tennis. co.za. For all other information, please contact Bianca. Visit our website www.tennis.co.za, find us on FaceBook www.facebook.com/ WheelchairTennisSA and follow us on twitter WCTennis.
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KG Montjane, SA's no.1 in the women's division ranked no.10 internationally.Kg lost to Marjolein Buis in the semi finals at the Airports Company South Africa SA Open 2012
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