Online Reporter
Tinashe Kusema-Zimpapers Sports Hub
OUTCLASSED, outmatched and overwhelmed, Zimbabwe’s latest Davis Cup outing at the Harare Sports Club was nothing short of a disaster.
The hosts failed to win a single set or tie all week, their relegation to the little-regarded Africa Group IV next year sealing a campaign many would rather forget.
Courtney Lock struggled for form and fitness. Injuries struck him, Ethan and Mehluli Sibanda at different points, and the doubles combinations never clicked.
By the end, frustration and disappointment hung heavy in the Harare air.
And yet, out of that gloom came a flicker of promise. The Sibanda brothers finally had their chance.
Tennis siblings are hardly rare.
From Serena and Venus Williams to the Bryan twins, from Andy and Jamie Murray to the less-celebrated Tsitsipas, McEnroe and Zverev brothers,
the game has often been a family business.
Closer to home, Zimbabwe once thrived on the exploits of Byron, Wayne and Cara Black; while Courtney and Benjamin Lock have flown the family flag in recent years.
Now, another pair is pushing to write their own chapter.
“Tennis is very big in our family,” said the elder Sibanda brother, Mehluli. “Everyone, from our sisters to our brothers, has played at some level. There are six of us, and our dad is
the one who got all of us into the
sport.”
That patriarch is Tendai Sibanda, who never played professionally, but became a self-taught coach after falling in love with the game on television.
He passed that passion on to his children, starting with the eldest, Mzingaye and now guiding Ethan and Mehluli.
“I’ve been playing since I was about eight,” said Mehluli.
“I started taking tennis seriously around 2007 or 2008. When I was 18, I moved to Pretoria to practise at the TACS High-Performance Centre under Prince Madema. That’s where my game really grew.”
Ethan’s path was quicker. He also picked up a racket at eight, but his talent surfaced fast. By 14, he had already earned an ATP ranking, the youngest Zimbabwean ever to do so.
Like many young athletes, the brothers flirted with other sports.
Mehluli once tried basketball and football.
Ethan admits he did not fall for tennis immediately.
“My dad kind of instilled it in me,” he said. “I didn’t really love it at first, but my elder brothers and sisters played, so I followed in their footsteps.”
Eventually, tennis became not just a sport, but the glue of their sibling bond.
“There’s obviously some rivalry here and there,” said Mehluli, “but more importantly, tennis makes us tighter.
“We push each other to be the best we can be. I give him pointers; he does the same. Any rivalry is just friendly competition.”
That dynamic was on display when the Davis Cup crisis forced them into their first official doubles match together.
On the opening day against Algeria, Courtney Lock went down injured in his singles match, leaving coach Gwinyai Tongoona scrambling.
The solution: throw the brothers in together.
The result was a straight-sets defeat, 6-3, 6-4, to Seydina Andre and Nicholas Jadoun.
But for the Sibanda brothers, the outcome mattered less than the moment.
“It was unexpected, but good to have my brother in the team and on the court with me,” said Mehluli. “It brings a more stress-free environment if there’s a familiar face around. You feel the support.”
Ethan agreed.
“It was something we always wanted to do. Even if the result wasn’t what we hoped, it’s an experience I’ll never forget.”
For both, though, doubles are just a stepping stone. Their eyes are fixed firmly on the singles circuit.
Mehluli, at 24, talks like a player with unfinished business.
“We want to go to the next step,” he said. “We want to reach the highest levels in tennis and represent our country for as long as possible.
“Personally, I want to do well in singles and get a high ranking. Maybe top 20 or even top 10. That’s what I’m working towards.”
Ethan, still only 20, measures his ambitions slightly differently.
“I’d be happy breaking into the top 100 and representing Zimbabwe at big tournaments,” he said.
Their confidence is not bravado. Both know the sacrifice required. They have lived it since childhood, training under their father’s watchful eye, chasing improvement in Pretoria and abroad, carrying the weight of a family dream.
“Yeah, we are 100 percent ready,” said Mehluli. “We’ve learned from those who came before us. Now, it’s our turn to push Zimbabwean tennis forward.”
For a nation desperate for success stories after the Davis Cup humiliation, their emergence feels like a lifeline.
They might be raw, they might still be learning, but in a sport that has often thrived on sibling rivalries and partnerships, the Sibanda brothers carry both tradition and hope.
It will not be easy.
Funding, exposure and access to elite tournaments are constant hurdles for Zimbabwean players.
Injuries lurk as constant risks.
Yet, in a family where every child has gripped a racket, where a father turned his living room passion into a coaching career, there is a belief that persistence will pay off.
For now, the dream is simple: climb the rankings, keep pushing each other and one day, perhaps, hear the Zimbabwean anthem ring out on a Grand Slam court.
“It’s about taking it step by step,” said Ethan. “But we believe we can get there.”
