Bloemfontein, South Africa – The cream of South African junior tennis will start arriving in the Free State capital, Mangaung this weekend for the upcoming South African Junior Nationals.
The country’s premier junior tennis event will be contested in four age groups namely the under 12, 14, 16 and 18 at four premier Bloemfontein tennis venues.
Over 400 juniors have entered the five day event to be played from 1-6 April, 2015.
The players will play in singles and doubles events within each of the age groups.
The under 12 age group will play at Grey and Eunice schools with the under 14 playing at the University of Free State courts. The Free State Stadium will host the boys and girls under 16 with the under 18 age group doing battle at Muddplein Tennis Club. All the semi-finals and finals on Sunday and Monday the 5th and 6th of April 2015 will be played at the main venue, The Free State Tennis Stadium.
The South African Junior Nationals will be followed by the Free State Dunlop Series also played at the same Bloemfontein venues. The Free State Dunlop Series will be played from 7th to 11 April 2015. This tournament is also a major junior event on the South African tennis calendar.
Acting Tennis South Africa (TSA) CEO Gavin Crookes said that both tournaments formed an important part of the development of tennis in South Africa. “We at TSA take the development of tennis very seriously and see it as the future success of our sport. When you get 430 of the country’s top junior players together in one city at one time you enable the players to battle amongst the best and off court have good social fun which is an important part of the growth of the players and the game.”
Crookes said that Bloemfontein was the perfect venue for the big event. “We have over the years chosen Bloemfontein to host the Junior National due to the fact that they have lots of courts in fabulous conditions, great tennis venues and an abundance of affordable accommodation. It made sense for TSA to partner with Free State Tennis and play the Free State Dunlop Series back to back with the Junior Nationals giving the players a good tennis experience and their parents, coaches and academies an affordable tennis trip.”