Online Reporter
Lovemore Dube, [email protected]
WITH the Mozambique two-leg International Tennis Federation J30 two-leg series done and dusted, Bulawayo’s stars will turn to the next two events set for Bulawayo in three weeks.
Siphiwe Malunguza and Akeelah Khanye had a great tour with the former winning the singles and doubles competition of the first-leg in Maputo a fortnight ago while the latter took the honours in the second.
Both used the event to improve on their junior rankings.
Malunguza’s latest success did not come easily. Seeded second in the singles draw, she powered through the early rounds before digging deep in a demanding semi-final against fellow Zimbabwean Rutendo Tom, recovering from a set down to book her place in the final. She then showed composure to overturn a first set deficit and secure the title against South Africa’s Lea Dube.
She carried that form into the doubles competition where she partnered Britain’s Charlotte Perks, with the pair going on to claim the title after a series of tough matches that tested their resilience.
The win improved Malunguza’s ranking to 675 in the world, a great leap for a player who was about 3 200 in the world two years ago.
Malunguza lost in the final of the second tournament’s singles, underlining her consistency.
With more tournaments, she could get a sub 500 ranking.
Khanye struggled in the singles, failing to emerge from the group stages to take part in the quarter-final stages of both. She said when the Bulawayo events start on March 23, she hopes to have recovered and worked on her weaknesses.
In the second leg of the singles, she had a first two easy matches beating Kutlwano Maremeni 6-1, 6-2 and Siena Figeiredo 6-0, 6-0 before eventually meeting her match in Marcelina Paliczka 3-6, 6-2 and 8-10.
In the doubles where she was partnered by Rutendo Tom, they beat the duo of Beaula Kaske and Diana Kitain 6-0, 6-0.
The Zimbabwean dub put up a commanding display in the doubles semis, dismantling token opposition from Paliczka and Vsaline Gjntje, 6-1, 6-3.
In the final, they held their composure after a tie-break to claim both sets 7-5, 7-5 against Marie and Catrey.
“For the first tournament my rhythm was not there, so I could not do most of the things well, including serving, I was struggling a bit to get the points, as for the second tournament, I played well, I met a player who was good, we took the match to tie-break, she won 10-8,” said Khanye.
She is upbeat that she will do better in the tournaments to come, with one starting on March 23. Players from several countries are expected to throng Bulawayo to take part in the event.
“I believe it is possible to do well, preparations have been good,” she said. Khanye is 1 288 in the world and expects to go up following the Mozambique tour and success.
