Phatshwane, competing in the tournament for the first time, won his first round match against America’s Tinotenda Gotosa 6-4, 3-6, 6-0. However, he came unstuck against South African opponent, Hlumani Kekana in a 1-6,1-6 reversal in the second round. The J30 tournament offers ranking points and match play experience for junior players and Phatshwane's win against Gotosa sees him get off the mark. Phatshwane was satisfied with his first outing in the ITF tour. "I think the tournament went well. I played pretty well in the first round. In the second round I think I was nervous due to the pressure. Going forward I will train more and try and reduce my anxiety," he said.
He said his aim is to progress to the second round of the J60 tournament, which kicked-off yesterday. Phatshwane was one of three local players to go past the J30 first round. It was a generally tough J30 tournament for the local players, with top seed in the Under-18 category, Seabo Saleshando, falling in the second round. In the first round, Saleshando had accounted for Zimbabwe's Anotipa Chigudu 6-2,6-2, but lost 5-7,5-7 to South Africa's Tshepang Maisela. In the girls section, Nina Sekonopo went past Seember Mathew of the United States in the first round but did not make it in the next round. Katlego Masa Regoeng lost to South Africa's Ethan Pieber 1-6, 0-6 in the first round while Nicholas Moravec from Czech Republic ended Kgotso Kejekang's run in the first round as well. Mbali Ndlabu from South Africa inflicted another first round loss to local player, Tyson Anderson while Reagile Diraditsile also went out at the first attempt, losing 0-6,3-6 to Romania's Matei Sucu. Kefentse Lekaukau and Maqhawe Qame were other local players to suffer first round exits to a South African and Namibian opponent, respectively.
The local players would look to make progress during the J60 tournament, which runs until Saturday. The Botswana Tennis Association president, Oaitse Thipe, said it is critical for the country to continue hosting high profile tournaments. "There are players from all over the world, the United States, Europe, Asia competing in these tournaments. They are competing for rankings that will take them to Grand Slams. We have about 13 players who were competing in the J30 and the same number who will compete in the J60 making up our team. Our team is very young and they have showed good promise. Some of them picked their first ranking points last week," Thipe said. "This week we are hoping for a big week in the J60 tournament," he added. Thipe said organising ITF tournaments is beneficial to the local players who get the opportunity to compete against the best from around the world.
