The third-seeded South African tennis player Philip Henning (24) cruised to an emphatic 6-4, 6-1 victory against the unseeded German Nino Ehrenschneider in the final of the Curro Centre Court Series at the Van der Stel courts on Sunday (8 December).
Despite local hopes that both the men’s and women’s South African singles players would secure titles, Jahnie van Zyl (15) succumbed to the fourth-seeded South Korean Jeong Beyoung in the Women15 (W15) final. Jeong won a pulsating contest 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) thanks to her excellent retrieving qualities on a blistering day.
Defensively she produced a masterclass during the 133 minutes in a match characterised by long eye-catching rallies against Van Zyl. The South African teen sensation was broken four times during the first set but broke back on two occasions. In the fifth game, she hammered a blistering double-handed backhand down the line to get back to 2-3.
She admitted that her first serve let her down on a few occasions.
“But this was still one of my greatest tournament achievements ever, as I beat the second seed Stephanie Visscher in the semi-finals and reached my first-ever ITF Futures Women15 (W15)-final,” Van Zyl, now ranked 175th in the world on the ITF junior world rankings, says.
Van Zyl is an amazing shot maker whose splendid movement and five-star ground shots made her a crowd pleaser during the first week of the Curro Centre Court Series in Stellenbosch.
Her movement during this attractive tussle from the back of the court was a bonus. She was almost never wrong-footed, and her superb ground strokes would have proven too much against most opponents at this level.
Meanwhile Henning needed 80 minutes to dispose of Ehrenschneider. He broke in the first game of the match and needed only the singular break to coast to the first set 6-4. In the second set Henning broke three times – in the third, fifth and seventh games.
The reason for his dominance was the way in which he blunted the power of the German’s first serve. He hardly faltered when returning, and when Ehrenschneider ventured to the net, he was passed or forced into an error.
Henning’s win was his second in the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Futures in the Curro Centre Court series. “I have worked extremely hard to get more free points after I launch my first serve, and I have also tried to add more punch to my forehands this year,” Henning says. “It was great to win a second Curro Centre Court Series title, and my sixth Futures title overall, in 2024.”
In the doubles final, the Dutch fourth-seeded pair of Niels Lootsma and Niels Visker beat Germany’s Ehrenschneider and Yuta Kikuchi of Japan by 2-6, 6-3, 12/10 in a high-quality match characterised by superb reflex volleys and outrageous passing shots.
Sara Borkop of Denmark and Dune Vassaid of France edged the German duo of Luisa Hrda and Yasmine Wanger 4-6, 6-1, 10-6 in the women’s doubles final.
“Curro is proud to partner with Tennis South Africa to sponsor and host this Centre Court Series,” said Jared Temlett, project manager for Curro Sport.
“We have hosted ITF Junior tournaments for top-ranking players from all over the world over the last few years. However, the Curro Centre Court Series expands our efforts, catering for professional players and offering significant prize purses.”
A total of 21 South African men and 20 women were in action in the tournament last week, and earned 84 WTA and ATP world ranking points in all. Of the 41 South Africans who competed, 28 were younger than 18 years old.
