Palesa Manaleng17 November 2022 | 9:23

Wheelchair tennis star Alwande Sikhosana wins ITF Futures singles title

Mariska Venter, Alwande Sikhosana and Ronewa Mudzanani will now move on to the TBESF Open, also an ITF Futures event which runs from 18-21 November at Turgay Soysal Tennis Academy.

Wheelchair tennis star Alwande Sikhosana wins ITF Futures singles title

South Africa’s wheelchair tennis star Alwande Sikhosana. Picture: @TennisSA/Twitter.

JOHANNESBURG - South Africa’s wheelchair tennis star Alwande Sikhosana snatched the ITF Futures singles title on Wednesday at the Aspendos Open in Turkey.

The South African took down Costa Rica’s Jose Pablo Gil 6-4, 6-1 to claim his fourth title of the 2022 season.

Sikhosana’s breakthrough came in 2017 when he was just 16 when he stunned four-time Soweto Open champion, Leon Els, to win his first men’s singles title at the Arthur Ashe Tennis Centre in Soweto.

In the women’s event at the Aspendos Open, it was a great effort, but not to be for women's number two ranked player - Mariska Venter.

The South African star fell short of claiming the women’s title, going down to top seed, and world No.17 Viktoriia Lvova 6-0, 6-4.

Venter, Sikhosana and Mudzanani will now move on to the TBESF Open, also an ITF Futures event that runs from 18-21 November at Turgay Soysal Tennis Academy.