Roelofse, Olivier win WP titles

2008-04-29 12:43

Cape Town - Former South African junior champions, Ruan Roelofse and Abigail Olivier, confirmed their status among the best locally-based tennis players in South Africa after being crowned the men's and women's Western Province Open champions on Monday.

Hosted by Western Province Cricket Club, the R35 000 event attracted players from across the country, Namibia and Zimbabwe all eager to walk away with one of the oldest and most prestigious provincial titles on the South African calendar.

Olivier, who hails from Somerset West and will later in the year take up a scholarship in the United States, swept past Namibian Federation Cup star Riekie Honiball 6-2 6-3 in the women's singles final, despite nursing a strained shoulder muscle.

Durbanville-born Roelofse, was made to work much harder for his title as he navigated his way past Table View's Scott Whysall in a semi-final played earlier in the day before taking on Bergvliet's Peter Mojzis in an entertaining final.

Using a remarkable array of shots and a booming serve, Roelofse kept the crowd entertained as he battled past a gallant Mozjis, 6-4 6-3. Mojzis had earlier beaten giant-killer Jaco Visagie in the other semi-final.

Like Olivier, Roelofse is also set to campaign on the very competitive American college circuit in a few months time and will be taking up a scholarship at the same university that produced current South African tennis sensation Kevin Anderson.

In the men's doubles final Camps Bay Tennis Club's Gavin Smith and Jason Weir-Smith cruised to an empathic 6-2 6-1 win over the Spier Tennis Academy duo of Christo Wiese and Tian van Wyk, while in the women's doubles final the evergreen Bridget Visee and the supremely talented Michele Gough were handed the title when Olivier, who was partnered by exciting junior Anna Simons, was forced to with draw with an injured shoulder.

- SAPA