Professional tennis aces Mbombela
Alec Beckley and Carlé Botha stole the show at the inaugural Mbombela Open at the Nelspruit Tennis Club (NTC) on Sunday.
Beckley and Botha won the singles and doubles titles in the most emphatic way at the five-day tournament, which started on Workers’ Day.
Beckley beat Gerhard Swart 6-2, 6-3, while Botha got the better of her sister,
Amike, 6-1, 6-3. The two champions walked away with a cool R38 000 each for winning the open.
There was little doubt that Beckley, the top seed in the men’s draw, would be crowned champion considering his high national ranking and experience, and he did not disappoint. He lived up to his top billing by delivering two double-bagel scores (not conceding a game in a match), and six bagels sets (not conceding a game in a set) en route to the final.
Beckley opened his account with a 6-2,
6-0 win against Wiehann Mohlen, the former NTC champion. In the round of 16, he faced the 14th seed and another NTC member,
Lefa Moganedi, and won the match 6-0, 6-0.
In the quarter-final, he played Armando Sigauque of Mozambique and registered another 6-0, 6-0 victory.
Fourth seed and local player Christian
Smith was his semi-final opponent, and he played to a comfortable 6-0, 6-2 win.
In the final, Swart tested the top seed and managed to do what no player was able to do the whole tournament - win five games, including converting a breakpoint in the second set.
In the end, Beckley won the title in straight sets.
Heinrich Rootman beat his good friend, Smith, 6-3, 6-1, to secure third place.
The women’s draw was blown wide open when the top seed, Talita Swart, lost to Mialeigh Cilliers 7-5, 6-4 in the quarter-finals, which opened the way for the Botha sisters to meet in the final.
Isabella Basson finished third after getting a walkover against Cilliers.
Meanwhile, local player Chané
Steyn finished 10th in the 32-player women’s draw.
Before the singles final, Carlé and Amike teamed up to beat Tiana Philippides and Lettica Venter 6-4, 6-0 to claim the doubles title.
Beckley teamed up with Jason Harris in the men’s doubles. In the final, they defeated Pieter Swart and Francois van Wyk, 6-1, 6-4.*