ZIMBABWE’s leading junior tennis player, Courtney Lock, will lead a local team of four junior players in the Wanderers ITF Junior Circuit tournament which gets underway at Wanderers Sports Club in Johannesburg tomorrow.
DANIEL NHAKANISO
The Wanderers ITF, which is expected to attract junior players from 23 countries, is the first of the back-to-back tournaments and will be followed by the Gauteng North Junior ITF to be played from July 24 in Pretoria.
Lock, who reached the finals of the Tunisia ITF Junior Circuit tournament recently, will be joined in the two tournaments by fellow Zimbabwean players Nicole Dzenga, Tanaka Chakanyuka and Rufaro Chirewa.
The singles main draw for both the boys and girls will comprise 32 players while the doubles main draw will be a 16-team draw.
While Lock will be one of the favourites to do well in the boys’ draw, Dzenga, who is one of the leading female junior tennis players, is also tipped to impress in the girls’ draw.
Lock will go into the tournament on the back of an impressive display in Tunisia where he narrowly lost in the final of the doubles competition with his Indian playing partner Sahil Deshmukh.
Tennis Zimbabwe manager Cliff Nhokwara said the back-to-back tournaments in South Africa would provide the young players with an opportunity to acquire rankings points on offer.
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“Zimbabwe will have four players taking part at the Wanderers ITF in Johannesburg starting tomorrow and the Gauteng North Junior ITF in Pretoria. Both tournaments are Grade 4 events on the ITF’s Junior Circuit and will provide an opportunity for young players to gain ranking points.”
“Soon after the two tournaments, the young players are expected in the country for two 18-and-Under ITF Junior Circuit tournaments we will be hosting at Harare Sports Club from July 27 to August 10,” Nhokwara said.
Last year, Zimbabwe hosted two of the tournament’s games with Courtney Lock and Tendai Tapfuma clinching the doubles title while Tapfuma lost out in the singles finals to South Africa’s Matthew Rossouw.
