Rising junior tennis star Jahnie van Zyl keen to apply French lessons to KZN series

Rising junior tennis star Jahnie van Zyl is hoping to serve up a strong performance at the Curro Centre Court Series in Hillcrest, in the Upper Highway area of Durban, building on her recent debut performance at Roland Garros.

The three-week series, in partnership with Tennis South Africa (TSA), features the men’s and women’s ITF Pro Tours. It begins with a W15 and M25 event from Monday, followed by a W35 and M15 competition next week, and ends with a W15 and M15 tournament from July 14 to 20.

Players from around the globe will be competing for ATP and WTA ranking points and prize money.

Van Zyl reached the quarterfinals of two of the weeks last year at Curro Hillcrest. She feels her recent Parisian sojourn in the qualifiers for the Roland Garros Junior Championships has helped her chances this year.

“It was a really amazing experience. I lost in the last round of qualies against a girl from Brazil. It was a tough match but I still learnt a lot,” the 16-year-old said.

“The first-round win was against the number one Australian girl under 16. It was really good win for me.

“It was a nice experience to see all the top women’s players in real life, see how they play. I learnt so much from that trip and I’m really grateful that I got the opportunity to play there.

“After the French Open we went to Germany and played a few tournaments there. I lost in the quarter-finals in one of the tournaments and second round in one of the others.

"It was still a good experience. I played against good players from around the world.”

Danielle Chapman, who reached the round of 16 last year, at the age of 14, returns to the KwaZulu-Natal leg of the Centre Court Series with more match experience under her belt. Curro Hillcrest matric pupil Grace Koenig will also be in action, alongside Van Zyl’s 18-year-old Billie Jean King Cup teammate Donna le Roux, who earned her first professional WTA points at last year’s event.

Among the South African challengers in the men’s draw is US college player Devin Badenhorst, a first-time winner of the Centre Court Series in Hillcrest. The Baylor University ace joins a strong line-up that includes Davis Cup player Phillip Henning, a three-time Centre Court Series champion in Hillcrest and Stellenbosch.

Rising 18-year-old star Leo Matthysen, a Davis Cup player, as well as Khololwam Montsi, a past Davis Cup representative and former Centre Court Series Hillcrest winner, will also take to the court. Montsi currently plays for the University of Oklahoma in the US.

Tunisian player Aziz Dougaz brings new international energy to the men’s draw with Benjamin Lock of Zimbabwe and Austria’s Marc Polmans.

In the women’s tournament, Denmark’s Elena Jamshidi, a finalist in Stellenbosch earlier this year, is set to challenge the field once again, alongside other well-ranked internationals including Michika Ozeki, Ksenia Laskutova, and Darja Suvirdjonkova.

“Last year, I made two quarter-finals and the second round. I’m definitely trying to make the final in one of these tournaments. I played well and I think I improved from last year to this year. I’m really excited to see how these tournaments will go,” Van Zyl said.

With Wimbledon starting on Monday, the young ace is backing world No 1 Aryana Sabalenka of Belarus to win the women's tournament for the first time.

“I think Sabalenka’s definitely going to win! I like that she’s always aggressive and she always sticks to her game style. I like her forehand and her serve. Her whole energy on and off the court is really good. Sometimes she can get a bit mad but I like her energy on and off the court,” Van Zyl concluded.