Near misses sum up busy tennis season

It was a year of near misses for Kenyan tennis players in both local and international tournaments with a few individual brilliances.

Kenya men’s team were one win away from qualifying for the Davis Cup Group 2 competition. 

The women’s Wheelchair team also qualified for the World Cup in Sardinia, Italy but failed to make any real impact.

The year also saw the country host two ITF circuits for the first time in the tennis calendar.

It began with Kenyan juniors once again retaining the Eastern Africa Junior Championship at the Nairobi Club. Albert Njogu and Keean Shah were in impressive form in the Under-16 category as they saw off their Seychelles counterparts 3-0.

Burundi clinched the Under-16 girls crown after they outclassed Kenya 3-0. Top seed Sada Nahimana was too strong for home player Sneha Kotecha, winning 6-0, 6-2 while Aisha Niyonkuru beat Kenya’s Esther Wahome 7-5, 7-5 in the second singles match. Kenya bounced back to claim the Under-14 finals of both the girls’ and boys’ categories.

WON BOTH MATCHES

Home players Alicia Owegi and Angela Okutoyi were in fine form as they put to sword the Rwandese pair of Berize Irakoze and Djasumini Uwamesi in both the singles and doubles matches.

Okutoyi beat Irakoze 6-0, 6-0 in the first singles match before Owegi extended the winning streak as she dropped only two matches on her way to a 6-1, 6-1 win over Uwamesi. The Kenyans triumphed by the same score-line in the doubles category.

Derrick Ominde and Hooker Suhail were the last Kenyans in action and ensured the country closed the day on a winning note. Suhail beat Mohamed Antoissi of Comoros 7-6(4), 6-1 as Ominde thrashed Said Khalide 6-0, 6-1.

In February, Kenya hosted the African qualifiers for International Tennis Federation (ITF) BNP Paribas Wheelchair World Team Cup at Nairobi Club. The women’s team qualified for the international event after downing Tanzania 2-0 in the final.

Kenya men’s team failed to follow in the footsteps after they lost to 2-1 to Tanzania to settle for second place. Both teams won their respective singles before Tanzania won the doubles to break Kenyan hearts.

In April, the Kenyan team comprising of Nicole Agufana, Cynthia Cheruto and Vandevelde Anouk won the ITF Under-12 East African Junior Team Championship at Nairobi Club. The home girls beat Tanzania 3-0 in the final match to clinch the title.

Kenya’s coach Veronica Osogo was overjoyed at the end of the competition attributing the team’s success to hard work and a never-say-die attitude.

“The cohesion in this team is simply impressive. They have worked hard and I think we wanted it more in the end and our tenacity carried us throughout the competition,” Osogo said.

It was however heartbreak for the Kenyan boys after they went down 3-0 to Burundi to finish third behind winners Burundi and Tanzania, who beat Rwanda 3-0 to finish second. 

WORLD CUP

In May, the women’s wheelchair team made their second appearance at the ITF BNP Paribas World Team Cup in Sardinia, Italy.

There was however nothing to write home about team’s performance as they finished bottom of the pile. They were, however, the only African country at the competition. In June, Kenya’s top seeded women’s player Shufaa Changawa, Sneha Kotecha, Judith Nkatha and Katarina Karanja took part in the Fed Cup in Moldova.

It was an encouraging performance for the ladies on their maiden performance with Shufaa and Sneha winning two matches each during the tourney. Later in the month the biggest event in Kenya’s tennis calendar, the Britam Kenya Open was staged at the Nairobi Club.

It however ended on sad note for the home players as foreigners went home with men and women’s singles titles. Ugandan Duncan Mugabe and Natali Coronel of Argentina claimed the men and women’s title.

Mugabe beat Kenya’s Sheil Kotecha 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 in the men’s final as Coronel edged out Gabon’s Celestine Avomo Ella 6-3, 4-6, 6-0 in the women’s affair.

Mugabe walked away with Sh90,000 while the Argentine won Sh80,000 after her triumph over the Gabonese.

It was the first time in over two decades that no Kenyan player reached the ladies singles final of the prestigious competition which was in its 92nd edition.
Mugabe, who beat Ibrahim Kibet in the semi-final, was pleased to reclaim the title he last won in 2013.

“Last year was not a very good experience and I have been able to control my temperament and that has worked well on my game,” the Ugandan told Nation Sport.

It was the 26-year-old’s fourth Kenya Open crown following his triumphs in 2010, 2011 and 2013. Last year, he had reached the final but was disqualified for bad conduct in the semis and later fined Sh10,000.

Kotecha shrugged off the loss to Mugabe to win the ITF Nairobi Junior Open in July after a Abdallah Fouad of Egypt 6-3, 6-4 in the final.

Later in the month of July, Kenya missed out on promotion to Group 2 of the World Cup of Tennis after going down 2-0 to Zimbabwe in the semi-final of the Davis Cup Africa Zone Three Championship in Cairo.

Zimbabwe secured promotion alongside hosts Egypt, who beat Benin 2-0 in the other promotional play-off match.

“It is tough to accept these results because they do not reflect how hard the boys fought,” Kenya coach Rosemary Owino said.

The Changawa siblings finally put a troubled year behind them to win the Rwanda and Malawi Open singles titles in November. Ismail would end the year on a high as he got one over his nemesis Duncan Mugabe at the Karen Open in December.

The 21-year-old Changawa, who is based in Louisiana, United States, tore through Mugabe with strong serves and returns, winning 6-0, 6-2 to the delight of fans as top class tennis returned at Karen courts for the first time in three decades.

Changawa later partnered with Kibet to win men’s doubles, beating Mugabe and Kenya’s Sheil Kotecha 6-3, 7-6(8) in the weeklong competition that was sponsored by Rent Works Asset Leasing Company.

Gabonese Cellestine Avomo rallied in the last set to edge out a stubborn Aisha Niyonkuru from Burundi in straights sets of 6-1, 7-5 to lift the women’s title.

Avomo and Kibet would partner to win the mixed doubles contest, beating Kabura/Niyonkuru 6-4, 7-6(3) in the final.

The last event of the season, the SGA Kenya Junior Open saw home players sweep most of the titles.