TENNIS NEWS - The former South African professional tennis player, Rene Plant, has been named by Tennis South Africa (TSA) as the country’s new Fed Cup Captain.
Plant will be in charge of the national women’s team for the next three years – up to and including the end of the 2020 Fed Cup campaign.
Johannesburg based Plant, nee Uys, was inspired by her Aunt - former tennis great, Pat Pretorius, to become a professional player at the age of 8 years old. Plant was inspired by South Africa’s Fed Cup win in the coveted Fed Cup for at Ellis Park in Johannesburg in 1972. Pretorius was part of the winning team and has gave Plant the inspiration to become a top player like her. When Pretorius gave Plant the winning engraved brooch that the South African team were awarded after their historic win, her real journey to tennis success began.
“Pat told me to follow my dreams, and I did just that,” said Plant, who was born and bred in the Free State capital, Bloemfontein. Plant was one of the country’s most successful junior players, ranked in the world’s top 10 as a junior and reaching the Wimbledon Junior singles final in 1981, losing to American, Zina Garrison. In 1983 Plant turned professional and reached a world ranking career high of 30.
