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Ellina Mhlanga Sports Reporter
TENNIS Zimbabwe president Regis Bhunu says they have put in place all that needs to be done for their Davis Cup Europe/Africa Group II tie against Georgia this month with NetOne sponsoring the team. Zimbabwe will be travelling to Georgia for the relegation play-off pencilled in for July 15 to 17 needing a win to remain in the group. And with two weeks to go before the tie, Bhunu said yesterday they are happy with the way the preparations are going on with NetOne, who committed to support the team earlier this year fulfilling their promise.

They sponsored the team’s trip to Finland in March for the first round tie in which Zimbabwe lost. “We are covered for the Davis Cup. We have got enough sponsorship from NetOne, so for this trip there are no issues, the level of sponsorship they promised is what they gave us. We are looking at around $25 000.

“It’s a limited budget of course because of the economic situation. But then when you can plan with something you have then it’s easy. Everyone is relaxed and there is no pressure. We are happy with the situation,” said Bhunu.

The team made up of non-playing captain Martin Dzuwa, Benjamin Lock, Mark Fynn, Courtney Lock and Mehluli Sibanda has also taken advantage of the on-going Old Mutual ITF Futures Series at Harare Sports Club to step up their preparations together.

Bhunu believes the team’s participation in the futures events will make a difference to their build-up for the match compared to the past when the players had to meet just a few days before competition.

“It’s a little bit different because of the Futures running. The captain is already working with the players after their matches in the afternoon. He is also bringing in some young players (for training) and not only the team. It’s quite exciting and the players like it.

“The team is going in there with confidence. They are keen to play, they are excited and they are ready,” said Bhunu. Away from their Davis Cup preparations, Bhunu said they are hopeful of another exciting week with the last of the three Futures events starting today. The tournaments have been running since June 20 with players from around the world taking part and the last leg will end on Saturday.

“The final week will also be a tough week of tennis. We realise that from the top six players, Lloyd Harris is the only one who has gone back to South Africa. Otherwise the rest of the players are here. So it’s still going to be tough.

“The standard of tennis there is high, that’s basically what we want. We want that level of tennis to be played here so that the juniors can also see. It’s a huge step towards the development of young players and that’s the exposure that we want to give to our young players,” said Bhunu.

Benjamin won the singles title in the first tournament while Frenchman Hugo Nys and his Italian partner Andrea Vavassori won the doubles. Nys went on to partner India’s Vishu Vardhan in the second tournament that ended on Saturday and they beat South Africa’s pair of Nicolaas Scholtz and Tucker Vorster 6-4, 6-2 to win the doubles again.