The Sunday News
Ngqwele Dube, Sport Correspondent
AFTER making impressive performances at the three International Tennis Federation Futures recently held in the country, local tennis ace, Mehluli Sibanda says he is taking a break before plotting his next move.
Sibanda reached the semi-finals in the first and third tournaments while in the second he made the exit at the quarter-final stage.
The feat saw him earning 14 points as each semifinal exit gave give him six points while reaching the quarter-finals saw him being awarded two, leaving him ranked at number 1 092, in rankings released last Monday.
Sibanda said he will take a four-week sabbatical while he trains in Bulawayo before looking at the tennis calendar and making a decision on where to head to.
“For now, I am taking a break but will be training at the courts for about four weeks before I look at the calendar. I will make a definite decision on my next tournament then depending on the available options,” he said.
The 18-year-old player’s impressive run was made all the more sweet considering he was not seeded at all the events but got wild card entries.
Sibanda, who was based at South Africa’s High Performance Centre in Pretoria for three years (2014-2017), said he was happy with his performances particularly as he faced the country’s top two, Takanyi Garanganga and Benjamin Lock and despite losing to both players he was pleased with how he performed.
His coach and father, Tendai Sibanda said the youngster performed beyond their expectations going into the Futures.
He said facing international opposition is tough reaching a quarter-final and semi-finals showed his game has improved.
“He played well beyond our expectations, remember he was up against players from all over the world and to lose at the semi-final stage was just wonderful.
“Mehluli had travelled to Uganda, where he failed to make the cut so I think this spurred him on to greater heights at the Futures held here.
“I’m sure he learnt a lot in losing to his compatriots (Lock and Garanganga) and this will certainly reflect in his future performances,” he said.
Tennis Zimbabwe held the three Futures tournaments in succession with the F1 Futures running from 28 May to 3 June followed by the F2 Futures from 4 to 10 June and the F3 Futures was held between 11 and 17 June with each event carrying a prize-money of $15 000.
— @rasmthembo
