07 Sep 2026

Qualifying for a Grand Slam is no small feat, as many tennis players globally retire without ever making it to a single major tournament.

However, Botswana continues to take solace in junior player, Ntungamili Raguin, who has made qualifying for Grand Slam main draws a habit.

His recent milestone was booking a spot in the prestigious US Open Junior Boys main draw in New York.

For a developing nation like Botswana, what happens next in the tournament is secondary as the main achievement lies in conquering the qualification stages to reach the draw.

Securing the US Open main draw spot did not come easy for Raguin, as he had to dig deep in a two and half hour qualification match against America’s Izyan Ahmad, eventually grinding out a thrilling 7-5, 7-6 (9) victory to book his place.

Botswana Tennis Association (BTA) president, Oaitse Thipe said the player continues to put the country on the global sporting map.

“He is inspiring kids right now just by playing all these Grand Slams, where our flag is being displayed at the facilities. We never expected that we would have a flag there, so this is highly inspiring for the young children” he said.

Reflecting on the player’s journey, Thipe said seeing a child who started at grassroots level rise to the pinnacle of junior tennis was an exceptional achievement.

“Having a kid who started playing tennis at grassroots level, playing with red balls in Francistown at just four years old, now reaching the semifinals of junior Wimbledon is a great achievement. You cannot describe how proud we are as a tennis association to see our player doing so well. He is rubbing shoulders with top players, and we hope very soon he will bring a Grand Slam home to Botswana,” he said.

Thipe said ‘Ntungamili effect’ was already yielding tangible results back home, driving an unprecedented surge in domestic tennis participation and fan engagement.

According to Thipe, local tennis clubs across Botswana were experiencing an influx of interest, with parents eagerly calling to enroll their children.

“It is not only children, adults are also interested in picking up rackets, the fan base is growing rapidly and this was evident when we hosted the Billie Jean King Cup at the National Tennis Centre. The stands were packed to capacity because people are now eager to watch tennis, motivated by his international success,” he said.

However, Thipe cautioned that to sustain this domestic momentum and transform tennis into a mainstream sport, urgent structural and financial interventions were required.

He made a plea to both the corporate world and the government to invest heavily in sports infrastructure and public facilities.

Thipe further called for the immediate revival of school sports, identifying it as the most critical pipeline for identifying and nurturing the next generation of athletic talent.

“I must emphasise that we need government and the Botswana National Sport Commission (BNSC) to kick start school sports. For many children, the only way to access grassroots tennis is through schools. There must be facilities and a proper structure in place,” he said. ends