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CALIFORNIA. — California Polytechnic State University sophomore tennis player, Kimberly Bhunu of Zimbabwe, is coming off of a season-ending injury, tearing her ACL and meniscus.

But, now, she’s feeling better than ever.

“That was a really long road. Now, I feel like I’m back stronger, I feel more fit than I was before and my game has changed.

“I’m more mentally strong, although it was unfortunate to go through that process I feel like I came back stronger and more appreciative of the sport,” Bhunu (20) said.

But, the journey to getting to the central coast was a lot of hard work and dedication.

She spent her high school years in France at Mouratoglou Tennis Academy that Serena William’s coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, owns.

“I needed to play in more competitive matches because it wasn’t as high as a level in Zimbabwe, they gave me a partial scholarship so I ended up going there when I was 14.”

So, at just 14 years old, Bhunu left her life in Africa and went 7 328 miles away to pursue her passion to become a better tennis player.

“I didn’t appreciate home as much until I went there. That was one thing, it was hard to leave home but it was a really good experience.”

Now, even further away from home at Cal Poly, Bhunu says it wasn’t easy coming to San Luis Obispo.

“Coming here was a completely different atmosphere, I have no relatives close by, it was hard, my freshman year.

“It was a huge culture shock because SLO isn’t really diverse. It gets really hard not having your family there to go to matches.”

After over 350 days of waiting, until the 2021 season, she says the goal of the team this year is to win the conference and make the NCAA tournament.

“That’s what we’ve been working for, I think we have a really good team this year and dynamic.

“I hope we can make it to the NCAA’s,” Bhunu added.

Born in Harare, she is the daughter of Regis and Sheilla Bhunu, and has a brother, Vitalis, and a sister, Valeria, who is also a tennis player.

She also enjoys singing, dancing and writing and says her father is her biggest influence because “he always encourages me to push my limits and leads by example.”

Kimberly attended Mouratoglou Tennis Academy and compiled 20 career ITF Juniors singles wins and 12 doubles wins, before moving to the United States.

She chose Cal Poly because “it is a good setting with good academics and tennis.”

As a freshman in 2018-19, Kimberly started the dual season out by going 3-1 in doubles with Emily Ackerman at the No. 2 spot and 2-4 in singles at the No. 1 and No. 2 spot.

She then suffered a season-ending injury on February 18, 2019, in a match against USF.

As a sophomore, in 2019-20 season, she went 4-3 in singles dual matches playing from the 4, 5, and 6 spots in the lineup and finished a combined 5-1 in doubles dual matches, including a 4-1 record, with Dominique Stone from the No. 3 position.

The duo defeated No. 26 Arizona State’s No. 3 doubles tandem on February 29, 2020.

Kimberly was named to the Big West Commissioner’s Honor Roll for her strong work in the classroom. — ksby.com.