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ZIMBABWE Davis Cup doubles specialist Mark Fynn says he is having a “fantastic” time in Turkey despite the country being on high terrorism alert.
The 30-year-old Fynn is 400km away from the city of Ankara that suffered a bomb attack which killed 37 people last week, and maintains he is in high spirits and enjoying his game too.
The Zimbabwean has been honing his skills at the Koza World of Sports in Istanbul for the past two years.
“My experience in Turkey has been fantastic since I got here in 2014,” said the Davis Cup team member. “I get to train at world class facilities with excellent players and coaches. I am very fortunate to have this opportunity to practice here.
“The bomb attacks have mostly occurred in Ankara, whereas the academy I train at is in Istanbul. However, they are tragic events no matter what city they occur in.”
Fynn’s day is all about tennis.
“I found out about this academy through a friend on the tour, so I came to check it out and really liked the atmosphere and have been here since then.
“A normal day consists of at least four hours of training on the court, plus at least two hours of off-court fitness and gym work.
“It then finishes off with practice matches in the evening . . . it’s hard work, but when it is your profession you have to give it everything on a daily basis,” said Fynn, who is ranked 1 154 in singles and 1 349 in doubles.
Following Zimbabwe’s 1-4 loss to Finland, the hardworking Fynn is determined to make amends when the team visits Georgia for the Euro-Africa Group II eliminator in July.
“Finland was a tough outing for us for a variety of reasons, but we are looking forward to the next tie against Georgia,” he said. “Any match in this group is difficult especially when played away. However, if we have a full strength team and good preparation beforehand then it is a tie that we believe we can win.
“We do have great potential in our team, but at the moment we are completely focused on staying in group two this year. Promotion to group one is very difficult, it means winning three ties in a row in group two against a lot of very strong tennis nations.”
Fynn concurs with Davis Cup captain Martin Dzuwa’s call for local players to feature at more Challenger tournaments.
“I agree with him totally about playing more Challenger tournaments, it means playing against highly ranked opposition on a regular basis which is very beneficial for us. It is also the next step after Futures tournaments to being a top professional, so that is definitely a goal for us.”
Online Reporter