Tennis South Africa (TSA) has announced that the forthcoming International Tennis Federation (ITF) Junior Grade A tournament, taking place in Cape Town in September, will be named after local tennis icon, David Samaai.
Samaai, a legend of South African tennis, passed away earlier this month. Despite playing during the apartheid years, Samaai defied the odds stacked against him to play at Wimbledon, the French Open, the Swiss Open and the German Open. In 1999, the Paarl resident received the Presidential Sports Award for lifetime achievements in tennis.
The Cape Town ITF tournament is one of only six Junior Grade A events globally and is recognised, after the Junior Grand Slams, as being in the top tier of international junior tournaments. The inaugural 2019 Cape Town event will attract the world’s best male and female players, aged 18 and under, and will also feature some of South Africa’s rising tennis stars.
TSA President, Gavin Crookes, believes the move is a fitting honour for one of South Africa’s greatest tennis players: “The unanimous decision by the Board of TSA, along with the gracious support of the ITF, to name the Cape Town event after the late David Samaai is well deserved recognition, in a small way, for what he both achieved as a world class player and later as a passionate coach.”
“Whilst this tribute will never adequately recognise the challenges he had to overcome as a black South African, playing in an era that was strictly amateur, as well as the achievements he attained as a top player in the world of tennis, I have little doubt the fact that these trophies will be presented to two of the top juniors in world tennis will go some way to making him proud - in his quiet and modest way. He loved nothing better than to mentor junior players on how to hone their skills on a tennis court,” concluded Crookes.
TSA Vice-President, Riad Davids, also hailed the contribution of the legendary player: “The tennis community was deeply saddened by the passing of one of its greatest heroes. We are duty bound to ensure his legacy lives on and are honoured to be able to name this tournament after the great man and present the David Samaai Cup to both the male and female winners of this prestigious tournament. Long live David Samaai.”
Samaai will be further honoured at South Africa’s forthcoming Davis Cup tie against Bulgaria, also taking place in Cape Town in September.