Online Reporter
Tinashe Kusema-Zimpapers Sports Hub
GWINYAI TONGOONA had a moment of reflection as he haplessly watched his charges get relegated to the less glamorous Davis Cup Africa Group IV for next year’s edition.
Poor Zimbabwe finished their Davis Cup Africa Group III campaign without a win and anchored the five-team log standings.
So terrible were the hosts that they did not win any set in the four matches they played against Senegal, Algeria, Nigeria and Namibia losing by identical 0-3 margins on each attempt. At the end competition of the tournament at Harare Sports Club, Senegal, Namibia and Nigeria earned the promotional slots to the World Group II Play-offs in 2026.
Algeria joined Zimbabwe on the relegation train.
More telling, however, was the simple fact that Zimbabwe appeared out of their depths for the duration of the week-long tournament at Harare Sports Club last week.
The team — which comprised Courtney Lock, Ronan Mtisi and the Sibanda brothers Mehluli and Ethan — were clearly out of their depth.
Of the four members, three went down with injuries bringing questions over their conditioning.
These included the Sibanda brothers and Lock.
It is, however, Tongoona’s belief that Tennis Zimbabwe need to invest more into the players and get them playing at a higher level and regularly.
“If we want results at Davis Cup, then we need to invest in the players,” said Tongoona.
“I think we need to really promote our players and get them to play at this level.
“I wouldn’t say the guys didn’t try their best, they tried their best.
“The more they play competitive tennis, the more they will improve and match some of the guys they will come across at Davis Cup level.
“If you look at the field, it mostly comprised of players that play regularly at ITF level while we only had maybe Courtney who is predominately a doubles player.
“Mehluli (Sibanda) is coming from injury while Ethan and Ronan are still very young.
“One just needed to look at the other African countries, they had very strong players.
“We have to be ready . . . we have come up with a team that can compete.
“The players we have are capable but we need depth and we need to really prepare for it,” he said.
Tongoona’s sentiments were echoed by one of his top players, Courtney.
“I think we need to sit down with the federation and understand why other countries are producing younger players and why we are not?” said Lock.
“I just think we are not a deep-enough team, to be honest, we need a stronger team.
“We need four or five guys who are able to play, who are playing professionally.
“Mehluli has been injured since October and so he hasn’t been playing professionally.
“I’m the only one in the team who has been playing on tour. “All the other teams had guys who are playing on the professional circuits every week, so they are professionals.
“You cannot compete with them if you are not playing on the tour as well.
“The rest of our team did not play a professional event this year and the results showed,” Lock said.
Tennis Zimbabwe have about seven months to right the ship before the country’s next Davis Cup assignment next February.
Algeria and Zimbabwe are expected to join Angola, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique and Botswana in next year’s Davis Cup Africa Group IV tournament.
Burundi and Cote d’Ivoire are the two teams that have been promoted to replace them in the Africa Group III. Gabon and Mauritius have been relegated to Africa Group V.
