Kenya Open set for big entry

Over 150 players are to take part in the 2009 KCB Kenya Open tennis championship which starts next weekend at Nairobi Club.

Speaking on Tuesday while receiving a Sh900,000 sponsorship cheque from KCB, Kenya Lawn Tennis Association chairman, Patrick Gichira, said that they would be incorporating the juniors to the 2009 tournament.

“What’s exciting about this year’s tournament will be a combination of competitiveness of the game and the inclusion of the juniors which provides a talent pipeline that would serve the country in future,” said Gichira.

KCB have increased the tournament’s sponsorship to Sh900, 000 up from Sh750, 000 for last year’s championship. The KCB schedule of events will start off with the junior tournament for all junior age categories to be played next weekend in line with Grand Slam events which run junior events before the main tournament. The senior event will run thereafter, between February 23 and March 1.

At the International Tennis Foundation World Junior ranking tournament at Parklands Sports Club, Burundi’s Sakina Nshimirimana on Tuesday recovered from a shaky performance in her first match to finish with a flourish in a 6-1, 6-0 win over Kenya’s Nadia Fernandez at the International.

The 2007 Zonal under-14 winner sent down 13 aces in the 65 minutes duration of the match. Other Kenyans Gilbert Kibet and Dennis Ochieng’ were also eliminated.

Kibet fell 7-6, 6-1 to Belgium’s Julien Sterbelle while Ochieng was beaten 6-2, 7-6 by Egyptian Munir Mohammed. Fernandez said, “She was playing very well and she has always had the upper hand in our previous three meetings.”

Consecutive aces

Sakina was broken once in each set but fended off five other break points before finishing with consecutive aces against the fifth seeded Kenyan player.

The 17 year-old Burundian displayed superior power and mental strength to overcome her hard fighting opponent. Fernandez, who constantly struggled to find her form, committed 13 unforced errors against the polished Nshimirimana

With the unusual drizzles playing havoc on serve tosses at one end, the errors continued to pile up as the two players swapped breaks in the first two games of the second set.

The second set was hotly contested, with Fernandez fighting for a win to remain in contention and Nshimirimana struggling to seal the set and the match.