Considering the high-level sport competitions South Africa is going to be involved in over the next couple of months, the ATP Challenger tournaments taking place in Tshwane might fly under the radar, but in terms of developing local tennis, it’s a big step forward.
Coming up, SA sports fans will be locked to their screens watching Bafana Bafana at the Fifa World Cup, the Bulls and Stormers in the URC rugby play-offs, the Proteas women at the T20 World Cup and the Blitzboks at the Sevens World Championship.
Local tennis supporters, however, will be pleased to be able to watch ATP Challenger tournaments on home soil for the first time since the Potchefstroom Open was held in 2021.
Last week’s Irene Open taking place at Irene Country Club was the first of four successive Challenger tournaments which will be held, including the Centurion Open this week, the Tshwane Open (27 July-2 August) and the Gauteng Open (3-8 August).
These tournaments, launched by former national Davis Cup captain John-Laffnie de Jager and former Wheelchair Tennis South Africa director Holger Losch, are being organised by No Boundaries, the same company which brought the Match in Africa to South Africa in 2020, which saw over 50,000 spectators turning out to watch singles and doubles matches featuring Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.
And it’s the latest move by the South African tennis fraternity to ensure progress at domestic level.
Creating a solid foundation
In recent years, Tennis SA (TSA) has held multiple lower-tier international tournaments which have given local players opportunities to earn ranking points and prize money without having to travel overseas.
More importantly, the national federation has held the annual Rising Star Tennis series, which has seen thousands of primary and high school players competing in district, provincial and national tournaments across the country. The campaign has also ensured tennis equipment has been provided to schools in underprivileged areas and school coaches have been able to attend clinics.
This bottom-up approach is starting to yield results, and while we no longer have any players ranked among the top 100 in the world, the depth is improving at top-flight level, which is promising.
And now, these ATP Challenger Tour events are the next step in an attempt to ultimately bring higher-tier tournaments to South Africa.
Relying on a balanced approach between funding development programmes for junior players and providing opportunities for promising elite players, SA tennis is back on the rise.
TSA and other stakeholders still have a long way to go to reclaim the glory days of the sport, but the solid foundation which is being laid is exactly what local tennis needs.
