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.
