TZ: Once Bitten . . .

Brighton Zhawi
TENNIS ZIMBABWE president Regis Bhunu has vowed to pull all the stops in ensuring that the team is well prepared for July’s Davis Cup Euro/Africa Group II relegation play off away to Georgia.
Bhunu said his team learnt its lessons after some less-than-ideal preparations saw the team being hammered 1-4 by Finland last month.
“We have already started working on logistics for that tie against Georgia,” he said. “The tie is not very far away and we are working on acquiring sponsorship in time so that we give the team the best possible preparations … better than we did the last time we played Finland.”
Bhunu said Zimbabwe would host three Futures tournaments between June and July in a bid to give local players a chance to fine tune ahead of the visit to Georgia.
“We are going to host three Futures from June to July and Old Mutual will sponsor the events,” he said. “We would want all our players from all over the world to make use of this opportunity to gain points.
“We want them to play these tournaments in their numbers and will give wild card entries to those who have failed to go through the qualifying stages,” he said.
The US$10 000 each tournaments attract players from all over the world and Bhunu said it was important for Davis Cup players to consistently rub shoulders with international contenders.
“Before the local Futures, there will be about two Futures tournaments in Mozambique and also two in South Africa and these should give our players ample time to prepare for the Davis Cup tie,” he said.