Theron (12) impressed at Senior Masters
Tennis
The 12-year-old prodigy recently joined the exclusive ranks of the NTA Senior Masters.
Johan Theron Junior (12) has made a name as the youngest player in history invited to the Namibia Tennis Association (NTA)’s prestigious Senior Masters Championship, where only the country’s top eight players recently competed for the national singles title.Theron is the son of former national tennis player and veteran coach Johan Theron Senior, who represented Namibia at two African Games, played Davis Cup (every year from 2000 until 2007) and held a highest ITF singles world ranking of 1323rd in his heyday in October 2007.
Theron Senior also coached the Namibian team at the Davis Cup for a number of years and has served as the owner and head coach of the Johan Theron Tennis School in Windhoek.
Propelled into qualification cut
The younger Theron qualified for the NTA Senior Masters despite being placed ninth in the standings. This was due to the country’s top-ranked junior Ruben Yssel (15), also at Johan Theron Tennis School, falling ill and unable to participate, propelling Theron as the next-ranked replacement.
This is a remarkable milestone, as the NTA only allows players to participate in senior tournaments once they turn 12.
In an interview with Sport Wrap, Theron Senior said: “This is a big boon for him at this age.”
Despite being outclassed by the likes of the Senior Masters winner Dickson Phiri, Johan’s fifth-place finish out of eight was respectable, achieving wins over Ronaldo Uirab (6-2, 6-4) and in the bottom-four playoff against Lorenzo Danster (6-2, 6-2).
Last weekend Johan competed in the under-14 section of the Junior Masters Championship. Here, he remained unbeaten for the overall title over fierce contenders De Witt Bergh (second; making inroads after being unseeded) and Nathan Fundisi (third).
Johan Junior is excited about his performance in the Masters Championships.
“I am very happy for the opportunity and I look forward to the journey ahead. My parents are very involved in the sport and they assist me a lot,” he noted.
‘Future looks pretty good’
Regarding the future of Namibian tennis, Theron Senior noted a lot of potential with the up-and-coming players.
“We have a lot of good young male players coming through the ranks, especially in the under-10, U12 and U14 categories.
“With the girls, it’s a bit of a struggle as there are not many players. Nonetheless, I think the future looks pretty good,” he assured.
His son will leave next week for Botswana, to compete in the under-14 category of the Central Africa Tennis Circuit from 16 to 23 November, and will follow the competition to Mozambique from 24 November to 1 December.
After Mozambique, he will travel to South Africa for Cape Town’s Super 8 Central African Tennis (CAT) tournament from 12 to 22 December, where he got direct entry after clinching overall titles at last year’s Central Africa Tennis Circuit events in Botswana and Mozambique.
In January, Johan will be back in Windhoek for the Southern African Zonals hosted by the NTA in collaboration with the Confederation of African Tennis (CAT) and the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The event will attract 13 countries, each represented by two of their top players, battling it out for ranking points.
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