SPAIN-BASED Zimbabwean tennis player Tinotenda Chanakira put on a brilliant performance to book his place in the second round of the Twenty Third Century Systems International Tennis Federation men’s singles tournament at Harare Sports Club yesterday.
REPORT BY DANIEL NHAKANISO SPORTS REPORTER
The unseeded Chanakira, who qualified for the main draw courtesy of a wild card, cleared the first hurdle after beating compatriot Lucca Picci 6-2, 6-2 in straight sets.
Chanakira will now meet the winner between top-ranked South African Davis Cup player Ruan Roelofse and American Joel Kincaid, who will meet in the first round today.
It was, however, not so rosy for another Zimbabwean player Malcolm Mutamangira, who crashed out in the opening round after losing 6-4, 6-4 to Ondrej Vaculik from Czech Republic.
Top seeded Zimbabwean player Takanyi Garanganga was not in action yesterday and is expected to open his campaign this morning with an interesting first round clash against veteran former Zimbabwe Davis Cup player Martin Dzuwa.
The winner in that match will take on Botswana’s Phenyo Matong, who qualified for the second round yesterday after beating Israel’s Darmon Aviv 6-4, 6-2 in the first round. In another match, South Africa-based Zimbabwe Davis Cup player Mark Fynn will be up against it in his opening round tie today when he squares off against the highly rated-second seeded Italian Alesandro Bega.
Should Fynn get the better of Bega, he would have booked a date against South Africa’s Lloyd Segal, who beat his compatriot Dylan Bernatzky 7-5, 1-6, 6-1 in a thriller yesterday.
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
Promising player Ronzai Saurombe, who qualified for the main draw from Sunday’s qualifying round, will also open his campaign in the first round-proper against Spain’s Martin Salazar.
American Evan Song will follow that match with keen interest, as he will take on the winner. He won his first round match against his compatriot Aidan Talcott 6-3, 6-2 yesterday.
In other first round matches in the men’s singles draw, eighth seeded Italian Mateo Marfia beat American Dustin Goldenberg 6-1, 7-6(5).
Men’s doubles results at a glance: Keith Crowley/Ruan Roelofse (South Africa) beat Jerome Benoit/James Liniger (Switzerland) 6-1, 6-3 Anru Fourie/Tucker Vister (South Africa) beat Sylvain (Ivory Coast)/Eric Vehovec (Canada) 6-0, 6-3 Marsoun Lukas/Ondrej Vuculik (Czech Republic) beat Mark Fynn (Zimbabwe)/Martin Salazar (Spain) 6-3, 6-4 Joel Kincaid/Evan Song (US) beat Aviv Darmon/Oran Reznik (Israel) 6-2, 6-3
