 World Tennis Junior Tour in Durban at the weekend.){kind=link}
South Africa-based Zimbabwean junior tennis ace Benedict Badza got his 2022 season off to the perfect start after winning his maiden doubles title on the International Tennis Federation (ITF) World Tennis Junior Tour in Durban at the weekend.
Competing in his first competition on tour this season, the 16 year-old rising starlet combined with one of South Africa’s leading juniors Leo Matthysen to claim the doubles title at the G5 ITF Junior Tournament.
The pair, who were the top seeds in the competition lived up to their billing by winning the final 7-5, 6-3 against the unseeded South African pair of Connor Doig and Gareth Igesund in the final.
It was maiden doubles win on the ITF World Tennis Junior Tour for both Badza and Matthysen.
Badza, who is currently one of the country’s leading junior tennis players also reached the semifinals of the singles competition where he eventually lost 7-5, 6-2 to his doubles partner and eventual winner Matthysen.
The duo of Badza and Matthysen both train at the Anthony Harris Tennis Academy in Sea Point, Cape Town.
The academy which gives young talented tennis stars from South Africa and the rest of the continent an equal opportunity to excel, irrespective of background or financial means was formed by renowned Zimbabwean tennis coach Anthony Harris and his Dionne, who is also Zimbabwean.