TSHWANE, August 10, 2022 (Tennis SA Press Release)

South African juniors Devin Badenhorst and Heike Janse van Vuuren kept the South African flag flying at the David Samaai Junior Open at TuksTennis, University of Pretoria.

Both Badenhorst and Janse van Vuuren, the reigning under-18 Africa Junior Championship winners, earned straight-set wins to advance to the quarterfinal round of the prestigious International Tennis Federation (ITF) Junior Grade A tournament on Thursday.

Badenhorst, the third seed, beat Hamza El Amine of Morocco by 6-4, 7-6(8).

“I am very proud of how I played today, and how far I have come in the tournament,’ said Badenhorst.

“It’s my first time ever reaching a Grade A quarterfinal, which is a big deal. It feel great and looking forward to tomorrow’s matches.

The 18-year-old Badenhorst of JL Tennis Academy will next face 6th-seed Max Batyutenko of Kazakhstan. The Kazakhstani defeated Daniil Sarksian of Russia 6-1, 6-4 to secure his quarterfinal spot.

Later on Wednesday, Badenhorst also progressed to the semi-final of the doubles event after he and partner, Anro Nel, beat El Amine of Morocco and Andrea M’chich from France 7-6(3), 6-2.

Another South African to catch the eye was Janse van Vuuren who moved on with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over unseeded Chinese yichen Zhao earlier on Wednesday.

In Thursday’s quarter final, Janse van Vuuren, ranked 79 globally, will face last week’s J1 Durban champion Ella McDonald from Britain, who has a junior world ranking of 34.