Tennis juniors battle it out in Cradock

[caption id="attachment_222716" align="aligncenter" width="630"] Luke Stuart, right, defeated Daniel Tam, left, in the U18 boys’ singles final of the Cradock junior tennis tournament at the weekend[/caption]

Luke Stuart and Dana Phillips took the U18 section honours at a successful Cradock junior tennis tournament in the Karoo town at the weekend.

Some rain on Saturday was not enough to derail the tournament and just more than 150 juniors enjoyed some excellent competition.

Stuart had an interesting duel with Daniel Tam in the boys’ singles final, having to fight back after losing the first set 6-4.

He levelled matters by winning the second set 6-1 and then eased home in the deciding 10-point tiebreaker, winning it 10-5.

The U16 and U18 girls were grouped in one section and Phillips showed her skill by defeating Bernice Bezuidenhout in the final.

The first set was closely contested as Phillips edged ahead 7-5, but she then took control and won the next six games in a row.

The tournament had a strong entry of 151 children, with competitors travelling from as far as Mossel Bay, East London and Bloemfontein.

Besides competitive tennis on the court, there was a strong social aspect to the event, with Keith and Nan Tam organising a spitbraai for the players and parents on Saturday.

Cradock is proving to be a popular tennis venue in the Eastern Cape, having also successfully hosted the Cradock junior school tournament a few weeks ago.