11 Apr 2024

Local tennis player, Mark Nawa has made it through to the ITF World Tennis Tour J 30 semi-final singles, to be played today.

Nawa, who is the only Motswana to make it to the rounds, beat South African Alexander Hristov 6-2,6-0 in a highly contested match, yesterday.

Once again the local lad momentum was exceptional and he was quick to correct his errors, making it difficult for his opponent to capitalise on his mistakes.

Nawa said he had learned to calm his nerves and he was happy that he was playing very solid against Hristov.

“If I go with the same mental strength in the semi-final I am confident that I will go all the way to the final like I did in the first leg,” he said.

Furthermore, Nawa said during the semi-final match, approach would be better, given that his mission would once again be to be in the court on Saturday playing in the final.

Talking about the quarterfinal match, he said he went up 5-1 and he had a bit of a slip in one game, adding that Hristov capitalised on that and went 5-2.

Nawa said he managed to gain focus and went up 6-2 and from there he was solid throughout the whole match.

“I was moving far much better in the court, and I managed to take the second set 6-0, and it was just really good, and this is one of the best matches I have played so far in the last two weeks,” he said.

Hristov on the other hand hailed Nawa, describing him as a very strong opponent to play against. He added that Nawa played very well with only a few errors.

“It was a tight match, I did a return, but I had many misses and he deserved to win, Mark is a fighter and he always does his best,” he said.

Hristov said when he watched Nawa in other matches, he realised that even during the times that he was losing, he did not lose focus, the character, which separates Nawa from the rest. ENDS