02 Jun 2013

Botswana Tennis Association (BTA) says it is happy with the performance of Botswana’s Davis Cup team and is therefore committed to building on that foundation.

After years of absence, BTA sent a team to compete at the Davis Cup Group 3 Africa tournament in Egypt last month. The team comprising top rated local tennis player, Phenyo Matong, Shingirai Muzondiwa and prodigies Innocent Tidimane and Aobakwe Lekang attained fairly good results in a tough group comprising Egypt, Nigeria and Zambia.

They won two matches out of four to end the tournament on position 10 from 13 countries. After suffering a narrow 1-2 loss to Nigeria in their first match, the team was beaten 3-0 by Egypt, the number one ranked team in Africa.

However, Botswana defeated Zambia 3-0 in its final group stage match to qualify for the 10th place-playoffs against Kenya which Botswana won 2-1. BTA president, Nelson Amanze told a press conferenceon May 31 that sending the team to compete at the Davis Cup was a worthwhile experience. 

“It was a good investment into the growth of tennis in our country and it has brought the results. The players did us proud and we would send a team to the Davis Cup again,” he said. Amanze said local players must be constantly exposed to tough international competitions for tennis to grow locally.

He said by taking young players such as Tidimane to the Davis Cup, BTA was preparing for the future. Botswana was placed 112 out of 127 countries in tennis rankings and the president believed the good showing in Egypt would improve their rankings.

Amanze said BTA had re-introduced junior programme through which it aimed to consolidate tennis development in the country. Through the programme, young tennis players who were part of the BTA development structures would have monthly competitions.

He said BTA would place development coaches in Orapa, Jwaneng and Lobatse as part of its ambitious development strategy. “We would also have part-time coaches in areas where there is need to revive tennis at grassroots level,” said the tennis president.

Meanwhile, BTA announced that Matong would be funded by the Botswana National Sports Council under the Zebra Fund for the 2013/14 financial year. The player was given a P75 000 funding by BNSC which would enable him to compete at a number of international competitions.

“We hope the BNSC funding would help Matong to improve his rankings,” said Amanze. Matong’s recent achievements were winning the 2013 Summers Tournament and the Matola Open in Mozambique. He also qualified for the main draw of the Soweto Open, an ATP tour competition. ENDS