Three weeks of ITF World Tour tennis at Curro Hillcrest ended on Sunday with singles titles for Israel’s Orel Kimhi and France’s Astrid Cirotte.

Orel, the No 6 seed, won the men’s M25 final 6-1, 6-3 against Hungary’s Zsombor Velcz. Astrid, seeded No 3, added the women’s W15 singles title to her three doubles titles at the tournament after beating South Africa’s Marilouise van Zyl 6-1, 7-6.

The Curro Centre Court Series forms part of the International Tennis Federation (ITF) World Tour.

Astrid adds singles title after three doubles wins

Astrid’s final against Marilouise lasted just under two hours and turned into a contest built around long baseline rallies.

Marilouise, the No 7 seed, struggled to settle in the first set, which Astrid took 6-1. The South African responded in the second set, using heavier hitting to move Astrid across the court and push her deeper behind the baseline.

Astrid had to work through several longer rallies as she slowed the pace and stayed in points. After early breaks in the second set, Marilouise broke in the 11th game to lead 6-5, then dropped serve in the next game. Astrid took control of the tiebreak, winning it 7-1 to claim the title.

‘I’ve had a great three weeks but think I wanted a little too much in the final. After a slow start, I was happy with how I lifted my levels in the second set,’ said Marilouise. ‘I was more aggressive and went for my shots, trying to open up the court, but needed to stay in the rallies more.’

Astrid’s singles win came after a demanding run across both singles and doubles.

‘I’ve played 25 matches but it was worth digging deep one last time for the singles title,’ said Astrid. ‘The second set was tough and I was happy to win the tiebreak as Marilouise really lifted her game and came back strong.’

Orel controls M25 final

Orel took charge early in the men’s final against Zsombor, whose aggressive game produced too many errors for him to recover.

Zsombor struggled to hold serve, with several unforced errors going long over the baseline. Orel’s consistency and ability to return repeatedly under pressure helped him build a lead that he kept throughout the match.

There was a brief shift in the second set when Zsombor broke serve and then held to stay in the contest at 3-5. Orel closed out the match in the next game.

‘Mentally, I wasn’t in today’s match and was pretty tired after a long three weeks,’ said Zsombor. ‘I am a naturally aggressive player who likes to hit the ball hard but when the focus is not quite there, it leads to mistakes which are hard to recover from.’

For Orel, the title added another Curro Hillcrest success after he won a junior title at the same venue in 2021.

‘South Africa is a special place for me as every time I play here, I win a title,’ said Orel. ‘It’s taken me five years to come back but knowing that I win a title whenever I come, I’m sure I will be back. I focussed on the singles this year and my style of slowing the game down, hitting high over the net and controlling many of the points counted in my favour against such a powerful hitter.’

Doubles titles round off final week

Zsombor also reached the men’s doubles final, where he partnered South Africa’s Kholowam Montsi to a 7-6, 6-3 win over the No 4 seeds, James Beaven of Great Britain and Tom Zeuch of Germany.

Astrid completed her week with another doubles title alongside Switzerland’s Jenny Duerst. The No 1 seeds beat South Africa’s Morgan Jordaan and Donna le Roux, the No 3 seeds, 6-1, 6-2.

Tournament director Jared Temlett thanked Tennis South Africa for its participation in the event and its work in developing young tennis talent. He also thanked Curro for its sponsorship and described this year’s tournament as a breakthrough event, with both finals broadcast on television for the first time.