TENNIS WORLD ACADEMY: A STAR NAMED DANIEL WESSELS

The main objective of the Tennis World project (the charity foundation, the tournament circuit and the academy) is solidarity and human growth of all those involved. From the beginning, however, the founder Federico Coppini did not exclude the development of a competitive environment of a high level.

The turning point came a few weeks ago, when a 17-year-old with high hopes landed at the Tennis World Academy in Stellenbosch. And the results, too, arrived, immediately and thunderously.

After three weeks of full-time work with Coppini, Daniel Wessels won a Super Eight tournament (an Open category event). In other words, the top position that there is at the national level.

In the tournament played in Cape Town, there were over 100 entrants from all over South Africa. Credited with the fourth seed, Wessels won the tournament by winning two great matches in the semi-finals and in the final: first he passed the no. 1 seed Alexander Edley (4-6, 6-3, 6-4), then the third seed James Edley (6-0, 4-6, 6-4). As if that were not enough, he reached the semi-finals in the doubles tournament paired with the other student of the Tennis World Academy, Wade Hermanus.

These are successes that reinforce his status: Wessels is one of the most interesting young South Africans. On the other hand, he has already started to carry out international activities and has already collected some points in the Under-18 world rankings. At the moment he is ranked number 1184, thanks to a beautiful semi-final finish at the Grade 5 event in Stellenbosch, played from 7 to 11 December 2020.

“These results come after 3 weeks of full-time training,” says Coppini. “We worked four hours a day. Unfortunately, he can't stay here all the time because he resides two-and-a-half hours away. Daniel lives in the open countryside, but distances are enormous in South Africa. It means that he lives right in the middle of nowhere.”

Despite the logistical difficulties, Wessels is believing in the Tennis World Academy project: in the three weeks he spent in Stellenbosch, he worked four hours a day. With Coppini they focused on the technical aspects, but in particular careful work was done on the player's mindset. “I tried to give him confidence and peace, with the aim of giving him a different vision of the game.”

Judging by the results, the goal was fully achieved. But there is no time to stop: in these days another tournament in the Super Eight category has started, and the Tennis World Academy presents some of the best arrows in their bow: in addition to Wessels (on the hunt for a sensational back-to-back ) there will be Wade Hermanus and the Spaniard Sebastian Millan, another guy who has chosen TWA to develop his tennis. This event takes place in the city of Strand specifically in the Winelands District Municipality.

Without exceeding rhetoric and clichés, the excellent work done by the Tennis World Academy is an example of how you can get results and work in the best way even without the structures and resources of the great academies. In the end, it is always people and skills that make the difference.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2Ww6w5h