Tennis South Africa (TSA) has withdrawn its support of this weekend’s Africa Cares Women’s Tennis Challenge, which is scheduled to take place on the 3rd and 4th of December 2022 at DP World Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg.

The federation has confirmed it will no longer recognise, sanction, or assist with the tennis exhibition tournament due to the risk of reputational damage caused by the organisers’ last-minute planning and poor execution of key event details such as the playing surface and facilities, among other things.

“In light of recent developments, we have made the difficult decision to withdraw ourselves and our recognition from the event,” said TSA President Gavin Crookes.

“We remain excited about the latent potential this event can unlock for tennis in the country, particularly the legacy it could create for our sport, but as things stand, we have to withdraw our support to avoid the potentially negative consequences of the event’s disorganisation, which is not in line with TSA standards.”