South African top wheelchair tennis junior Alwande Skhosana returned home from the Cruyff Foundation Junior Masters in France on Tuesday last week bubbling with confidence after finishing on a high at the prestigious junior event.
Skhosana did the country proud as he made it up to semi-final stage in Tarbes losing 7-5 6-1 to Rubén Spaargaren of the Netherlands in the boys singles event. The world number 7 went on and produced a master class performance with partner Ruairi Logan from Britain to reach the boys doubles semi-finals. The duo continued their remarkable run in the doubles finals but were outclassed by Ruben Spaargaren (NED) and Conner Stroud (USA) 6-0 7-5.
Despite the loss, reaching the singles semi-finals and doubles finals at the Junior Masters this year was a much better result for the Kwazulu-Natal star than the 2016 event. After two weeks of rest, Skhosana and Nokwanda Hlongwane will jet off to represent the country in a three-week challenge in Sri Lanka.
The two Kwazulu-Natal stars’ itinerary includes competing in Negombo Open from 14-16 February, SL Open from 18-20 February and SSC Open from 22-24 February. All three events are International Tennis Federation (ITF) Futures tournaments which forms part of the UNIQLO Wheelchair Tennis Tour. Skhosana and Hlongwane, who both attends Adelaide Thambo Special School in Soweto will be making their second visit to South Asia.
Story submitted: WTA SA
