Zimpapers Logo

Tafadzwa Nyakudanga Sports Reporter
THE just-ended two ITF tennis tournaments, which were held in Harare for the past two weeks, surely belonged to Boy Westerhof of the Netherlands who managed to win both of them. At the weekend Westerhof bagged his second ITF NetONe tournament when his opponent, Antal Van Der Duim, retired due to injury as they were tied on one set each. The Dutch national added the title to his success in the first tournament dubbed Twenty Third Century Systems ITF tennis tournament in which he beat Run Roelofse of South Africa 6-3, 7-6 in the final.

Despite the guaranteed US$1 500 prize money, Westerhof also walked away with 27 points, which would elevate him in the ATP rankings.
Zimbabwean players failed to capitalise on the home advantage they had as they were all knocked out before the quarter-final stage.
Cliff Nhokwara, who was the director of the two tournaments, also emphasised on the need to help Zimbabwe tennis improve.

“We have a long way to go as Zimbabwe to compete on the same level as Westerhof and all the other top athletes.
“We hope that after hosting two successful tournaments, our players will see what they need to improve on and we welcome the exposure,” said Nhokwara.

South Africa was the most represented country with seven players at the two tournaments while Zimbabwe had four players who featured in the singles.
“We will try getting more players from Zimbabwe to participate at these tournaments. It is just unfortunate that both tournaments coincided with the school exams.

“We have our own players that we sent to universities in USA so I am sure we will be able to use them in the next tournaments” added Nhokwara.
Mark Fynn, the top ranked Zimbabwean at the tournaments, said: “When I go back to Turkey, I will reflect on these last two weeks and see what I need to do to improve on before I participate in the European tournaments.”