Alwande Sikhosana climbs up world rankings after successful Asian tour

Sikhosana competed in four tournaments across Asia - the Busan Open, Daegu Open, Seoul Open, and ended his campaign on a high note at the Japan Open, where he reached the quarterfinals in the doubles alongside his French partner Frederic Cattaneo.

Speaking to SABC Sport, Sikhosana praised his sponsor the Nyatee Foundation for covering the costs of the tour, allowing him to focus on his performance.

"Honestly speaking, this was one of my best tours, especially when we're looking at the points I accumulated in these competitions, and I'm really happy to have achieved that. Preparation and coming here wasn't easy, I had to look for funding to come to this tournament and when Nyatee Foundation came on board I felt like a weight was lifted off my shoulders, and then my focus shifted to my performance."

READ: Prudence Sekgodiso clocks PB to win inaugural Simbine Classic

Sikhosana says he is impressed with his overall performance in Japan alongside his partner Cattaneo, despite a narrow quarterfinal 4-6, 6-4, 8-10 defeat to Ruben Spaargaren of the Netherlands and Daniel Caverzaschi of Spain. 

The 25-year-old says his next target is to break into the world’s top 20, after climbing from 26 to 21 in the singles rankings, and from 24 to 19 in the doubles. 

With only a week to rest, Sikhosana will turn his attention to the Madrid Open, which gets underway from 14 May. 

"I'm actually not back for that long, I think I'm only back for two weeks to be exact. I will be resting this week and adjusting back to the South African climate, and then the next week I'll be back in training and the week after that, I need to prepare for the next tournament, which is the Madrid Open."