adminMehluli Sibanda in Harare
DUTCH national Boy Westerhof came back from a set down to win the International Tennis Federation NetOne Futures Tennis Tournament after his opponent, fellow countryman Antal Van der Duim retired hurt with a back problem in the last set of the final staged at an outdoor hard surface at Harare Sports Club on Saturday.
Westerhof, the top seed at the tournament lost the first set to second seed Van der Duim 6-7 (5) after a tie break but fought back to take the second set 7-6 and was cruising at 3-0 in the final set before his opponent threw in the towel. It was the 29-year-old Westerhof’s second triumph in an ITF Futures Tournament in Zimbabwe after he won the Twenty Third Century Systems (TTCS) bankrolled event at the same venue a week ago. For his sweat Westerhof walked away with a cash prize of $2,200, the same amount he got for being the TTCS tournament winner.
It was a perfect belated birthday present for Westerhof who turned 29 on Friday. Van der Duim on the other hand pocketed $1,300 for being the runner up which was a huge improvement after he lost out in the semi-finals of the TTCS sponsored tournament. The French duo of Gregoire Barrere and Arthur Surreaux won the doubles title which saw them walk away with $1,100. Tennis Zimbabwe (TZ) president Regis Bhunu and NetOne public relations manager Rutendo Chabururuka presented the prizes to Westerhof as well as Van der Duim.
Chabururuka said his company was committed to the growth of tennis in the country and will continue to fund more tennis competitions in the future.
In his prize acceptance speech Westerhof said he has had a great time in Zimbabwe in the two weeks he has been in the country. He congratulated his compatriot Van der Duim for an improved show in the tournament which bettered his display in the previous one.
Bhunu revealed that following the successful staging of the ITF Futures tournaments they were looking at increasing the number of senior tournaments in the country. The biggest challenge for the tennis body according to Bhunu is attracting more fans to come out and watch the matches. Saturday’s final was watched by a crowd of less than 100 people.On the poor show by the Zimbabwe players at the two events, Bhunu believes that it came down to experience since overseas players get exposed to competitive tennis from a junior level compared to local players who are not that fortunate.
Zimbabwe’s top player at the tournament Mark Fynn was booted out in the second round by Van der Duim while another Zimbabwean Tinotenda Chanakira also bowed out in the round of 16 to fifth seed, South African Ruan Roelofse.
derick.khumalo