Erasmus, Jacobs win Namibian Closed titles

Namibia’s foreign-based tennis players Jean Erasmus and Sedi Jacobs won the men and women’s singles titles of the Namibian Closed Tennis Championships over the weekend.

Erasmus beat Deon van Dyk 6-4, 6-1 while Jacobs beat Kerstin Gressmann 7-5, 6-2.

Erasmus said he initially struggled to find his rhythm but his strong serve pulled him through in the second set.

“Deon started off well, but I got used to his serves and found my rhythm in the second set. It’s important to serve well in Windhoek and luckily I served well which gave me an advantage,” he said.

Erasmus, who is doing his Masters degree at the University of Texas, said he returned to Namibia to recharge his batteries.

‘I got the homesick bug and decided to come home for a few weeks to recharge my batteries,” he said.

He said he hopes to represent Namibia at the Davis Cup in Egypt in October.

“This was an important tournament to compete in with the Davis Cup coming up and I hope to represent my country at the Davis Cup later this year,” he said.

Jacobs, who also returned home from her ITF training base in Morocco, said she overcame a poor start to finish strongly.

“We both had a dodgy start so it was important to make a plan and close off the set. I started the second set off well to break her serve and played much better,” she said.

Jacobs will soon be leaving Namibia again to compete abroad after receiving an ITF grant of US$1 000 and invitations to compete at top international events in Germany and England. One of these includes an invitation to the Junior Wimbledon Championships and Jacobs said she was very excited by the prospect.

“I’m very excited and I can’t wait to play at Wimbledon,” she said.

Meanwhile, Erasmus and Van Dyk teamed up to win the men’s doubles title after beating Grant Rau and Hendrick de Waal 6-2, 6-2 in the final.

Kerstin Gressmann and Mariska Kuschke beat Amanda van Dyk and Sonja Mehrtens 6-3, 6-2 in the women’s doubles final.