Beating Reuben de Klerk of the host country 6-1, 7-6 to claim the championship after putting close rival John Bothma 6-2,6-1 in the ITF Junior Tours Singles two weeks before, Denzel is dazzling faster than inchmeal towards qualifying for junior grand slams
GAZETTE REPORTER
The efforts of Botswana’s most decorated tennis player, Denzel Seetso, to garner points to qualify for junior grand slam tournaments gained momentum when he won a second consecutive International Tennis Federation (ITF) title within a period of two weeks.
The 18-year-old top seed dominated the ITF J60 tournament in Pretoria, South Africa last week where he beat Reuben de Klerk of the host country 6-1, 7-6 to claim the championship.
Close rival
Prior to that, Seetso had won the ITF Junior Tours Singles title by beating his close rival, John Bothma of South Africa, 6-2,6-1. He went on to win silver in the doubles alongside his partner, Takura Mhwandangara of Zimbabwe.
His title victories have contributed to his individual ITF rankings in which he is now number 195 in the world.
The victories came after he failed to qualifying for the Junior French Open grand slam that was held in Paris, France recently. Seetso needed to be in the top 100 in the world to qualify for the tournament.
Wimbledon
An elated president of Botswana Tennis Association (BTA), Oaitse Thipe, told Gazette Sports that the hope is for Seetso to qualify for the remaining grand slams, either Wimbledon or the US Open.
“He has been aiming to qualify for junior grand slams since the beginning of the year and has missed the Australian Open and the French Open,” he said. “What he needs to qualify and get the chance to play against the best in the world is to be in the top 100.
“He also needs to win high-ranked tournaments like the J60s and the J80s because they carry bigger points. We are happy that he is making good progress and eventually qualify because he enjoys tremendous support.”
79% overall winning rate
Seetso has recorded 22 wins and six losses out of 28 matches that he has already played this season, which amounts to an overall winning rate of 79 percent.
Since the beginning of the season, he has played three clay matches, winning one and losing two; and registered 21 wins and four losses in hardcourt.
So far the only Motswana ranked in top 200 in the world, Seetso recorded a career high ranking of 183rd in the world in March 2023.
His next stop is the Botswana Open Tennis Championships slated for next month in Gaborone.