Kenya bows out of tennis tourney
By Charles.Thuku, May 18, 2023Kenyan duo of Stacy Chepkemei Yego and Mercyline Oresha wrapped up the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Tour with a 6-2, 6-4 loss to Victoria Luo Freitas from Poland and her Belgian partner Anouk Vandevelde in the girls doubles quarter-finals at Parklands Sports Club yesterday.
Despite having been eliminated in the second round of the girls’ singles, and now in the doubles quarter-finals, Chepkemei said the match was an ideal dress rehearsal for her before taking part in the Kampala version of the world ranking tournament which is set for this weekend in the Ugandan capital
“Although I failed to pluck points to improve my ranking, the match served as a good build-up for me ahead of the Kampala leg. We really tried our best but were bereft of ideas to prevail over our opponents,” said Chepkemei, an online Form Two student,
As for Oresha who is a student at Mbagathi High School, she attributed the loss to being overwhelmed by their opponents’ strong serves and volleys.
“We tried to match them in vain but I must say despite being on the losing side, I have learned something ahead of a tournament which is coming up in June at Nairobi Club,” said Oresha after the virtually lop-sided match played at the Centre court.
Extreme Tennis Academy administrator Fiona Ondari said there is still room for improvement amongst Kenyan players who have enjoyed playing top-flight action against some of the best players in the world ranks.
“Most of the local players are still learning the ropes and I believe they will gradually put their acts together in future tournaments. A good number of them have shown promise which is quite encouraging for Kenyan tennis,” said Ondari.
The academies’ coach Rosemary Owino echoed similar sentiments, saying:“The players feel excited to play at the big stage and their confidence is increasingly growing which is a big plus. They need more of such tournaments to achieve the desired results.”
In the meantime, Shotari Yamamoto of Japan breezed 7-6 (5), 6-4 past Patrick Hinzo of Germany to cruise through to the boys’ singles semi-finals. Austria’s Alexander Gschiel also qualified for the same stage after overcoming New Zealand’s Elijah Blackshaw who retired from action.
In the girls’ singles, Amelia Drozd from Poland advanced after a merited 6-4,6-2 victory over Victoria Luo Freitas.