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Tadious Manyepo
Sports Reporter
FORMER Prince Edward tennis player, J’erome Harsant Adonis, is dreaming big after securing a scholarship at Johnson C Smith University, in North Carolina, United States.
The Gweru-bred athlete is one of the fast rising tennis stars in the country.
He believes the latest development could set the tone for his ambitions to become a world-class athlete.
“I am delighted with this development,” he said.
“When I look at where I came from, and the fact that I was raised by a single parent, my mother, I have that belief that I will hit the top.”
Adonis started playing professional tennis in 2014.
“The road to making first team wasn’t easy but I’m fortunate I had the privilege of playing the nation’s best, as our first team had, at least, 60% of the Zimbabwe Team,’’ he said.
“That same year (2014), we managed to win the Mim du Toit Cup for the 5th time in a row.” In 2015, he made the Zimbabwe Schools National Tennis team.
“This is a record I managed to keep until I left Prince Edward in 2019. At that time, I was eligible for tennis colours but the age restriction was 16, so I only got my tennis colours in 2018, and a reward in 2019.
“In 2015, I also started winning local tennis tournaments, and managed to push my national ranking, to make it in the top five.
“My then coach, Linsent Chitiyo, who is the head tennis coach and assistant sports director at Prince Edward, told me to also play International Tennis Federation tournaments, to grow my world junior rankings.
“I did not get to play enough tournaments, in a calendar year, due to funding but I had a decent record, with the few I could get a hold of.’’
He said it was a tough ride.
“I would get to play between three, and five tournaments a year, and the required is at least 15-25 for the road to being a professional, which is the goal,’’ he said.
“I finished with a Universal Tennis Rating 10/16 in the world.
“We kept on winning the Mim Du Toit boys league cup, since 2015 until 2019, making it 10 years in a row.
“I was vice-captain of the team from 2017.”
That same year, he lost both his father, and brother-in-law.
“At this point, I could not afford to go to school or play tennis. I managed to get a tennis scholarship, for me to carry on with my ‘A’ Level.
“Coach Chitiyo kept on pushing me, to be the best, I could.
“At this point, I could play a couple of tournaments to keep my ranking up for both local and international tournaments.’’
Online Reporter