Andrew
Tinashe Kusema
Deputy Sports Editor
MYLES MURINDAGOMO was barely four when his mother first noticed that there was something special about her son.
Special may not be the right word, given it is generally overused by mothers around the world to describe their children. However, Shylet Murindagomo often found herself in awe of her son’s grasp and passion for sport and his huge potential in tennis.
“Myles has already had a love and understanding for sport.
“My son, at any time, can give you the log standings of the many European leagues by head or tell you how much this player was sold or bought for,” she said.
“It’s always been like that from a very tender age, and I remember forcing him to decide which sport he wanted to take part in.
“At one time, he was playing football, golf, tennis and other sports.”
By his own admission, Myles had an interest in almost every sport, but that was until he tried his hand at tennis.
“I started playing tennis at school (Selborne Routledge Primary School) after getting an invite from coach Kayanga.
“I used to play a lot of sports, with the top ones being football, handball, cricket. However, the coach invited me to try out tennis after seeing my potential, and I immediately fell in love with it.
“I knew from the get-go that this is what I wanted to do with my life,” he said.
Now 11, Murindagomo is widely considered to be one of the brightest young tennis prospects in the country and is currently ranked number one in his age group.
His mother has since signed him up with tennis coach Davison Dlamini.
“I inherited young Myles Murindagomo from another coach, Martin Dzuwa, I think about a year ago, and he has a lot of promise,” said Dlamini.
“We have had to change a few things about his tennis, but he is getting there fast.
“He has a solid groundwork, with a powerful forehand and backhand, and it can only get better with age.
“The only weakness I have seen in his game so far is his movement, but he is still very young and can only grow from here.”
Murindagomo is one of four top tennis prospects under Dlamini’s care, with the other three being Zahara El Zein, Ruvarashe Magarira and Malachi Harry. He now spends most of his time at Old Hararians honing his craft.
He has no time for anything other than tennis and school, and has even managed to secure a gym membership for his mother so she has something to do while she waits.
“I played a game against one of the gym instructors and beat him,” said the Selborne Routledge Grade Seven learner.
“He wanted a rematch and I decided to grant him on the condition that if I won he would train my mother for free.
“Luckily for her, I won,” he said.
Mother and son have bonded over their shared love for tennis, with the senior Murindagomo once an amateur player.
She now sits on the Harare Metropolitan tennis board and travels with her son on national and regional assignments.
One such trip to South Africa a fortnight ago saw Myles bring back a silver and gold medal.
The trip reinforced the young tennis prodigy’s love for tennis, as it gave him his first real lesson on the nature of the sport — both the good and bad.
“Well, it was a tough tournament and I could have done better than I did.
“I played well, but struggled in the semi-final of the singles.
“The guy I was paired with for the doubles let us down as he was visibly scared after having been beaten by one of our opponents during the singles.
“However, the worst thing about the whole trip was the racism I was subjected to.
“I think we were only three black players the whole tournament, and none of the white players wanted to be with us, with the exception of my doubles partner.
“I was called all sorts of names, but refused to let it get the best of me.
“I am more determined to turn pro now and want to inspire more black players to take up the sport with my success,” Myles said.
His list of idols includes global stars Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.
Online Reporter