GC Tennis Centre to host invitational tourney

Ricky Zililo
BULAWAYO’S players will use the weekend’s GC Tennis Centre Invitational competition to prepare for the ITF Under-18 Circuit set for Harare from 30 July to 11 August.

Organisers of the GC Tennis Centre Invitational tournament said Bulawayo’s top eight players from each age-group will battle it out at the Girls’ College courts.

“There are a number of competitions coming up during the August school holidays and what we have decided at GC Tennis Centre is to invite the best players so that they prepare for those tournaments.

We have 13 Under-12 and -13s who have been invited for the International Tennis Federation Junior Circuit competitions set for Burundi and Rwanda next month and some who will compete in Harare.

“Who knows, they might even get the attention of ITF scouts and if they impress they might get scholarships,” said Adam Joelson, the GC Tennis Centre spokesman.

The GC Tennis Centre players will battle it out with the continent’s best competitors in the Under-12 and Under-14 boys’ and girls’ categories from 7-22 August. Burundi’s capital, Bujumbura, will play host to the first and second legs of the ITF circuit from 7-16 August with the third and final leg set for 18-22 August in Kigali, Rwanda.

The country’s budding tennis star, young Thembela Ndlovu, who won both the Bulawayo Junior Open and Tarryn-Leagh De Souza Under-18s’ girls titles, is expected to be among participants at the ITF Under-18 circuit in Harare.

Tafadzwa Mawisire, younger sister to Fadzai and Vimbai who are in the United States of America on tennis scholarships, is also expected to represent Bulawayo in Harare.