There were some surprises on Friday as the action started heating up, with some of the more fancied players being eliminated in the quarter-finals of the American Express Junior National Championships in Bloemfontein.
In the U18 division, top seeds Dehan van Deventer (who plays for Van der Stel Tennis Club in the Western Cape) and Roxy Bredenkamp (Coppini Tennis Academy, Western Cape) emerged triumphant, but the No 2 and 3 seeds were eliminated from both the boys and girls competitions.
Delivering the surprise performance of the day, No 6 seed Ella Jonker (Welgemoed Tennis Club, Western Cape) delivered a stunning performance in the Girls 16 category, wrapping up a straight sets 6-3 6-2 win over top-ranked Lyndsey Philipps (Anthony Harris Tennis Academy, Western Cape) to progress to the semifinals.
In all other age groups, the top seeds remained in contention for the national junior titles.
The penultimate round of the singles competitions in all four age groups will be played on Saturday.
The annual age group showpiece will conclude on Sunday when the finals are contested.
/ENDS