Chapepa is Africa’s Number One
RISING Zimbabwe tennis star Kuzivaishe Chapepa is now the Confederation of African Tennis number one ranked Under-14 player.
Chapepa won gold in the Under-14 girls’ competition at the just ended and International
CAT Tennis Federation’s (ITF) Southern African Junior Individual and Teams Championships in Namibia.
In the players’ classification list released by this week, Chapepa, who hails from
CAT Bulawayo, has earned 1825 points and leads the list of 157 players.
Another Zimbabwean player in the top 10 list is Emmly George at position six with 1085 points while Akeelah Khanye, also from Bulawayo is ranked 12th on 646 points.
Other local players on the girls’ Under 14 list are Mufaro Ruwanza at position 36 with 194 points and Rutendo Tom at 44th on 170 points.
Chapepa’s achievement was met with excitement from the local tennis circles.
Tennis Zimbabwe issued a statement on various social media platforms, saying in Chapepa there is a star in the making.
“Congratulations to Kuzivaishe Chapepa who won gold in the Under-14 Girls Individual Event at the ITF/CAT Southern Africa Zonal Championships that were hosted in Namibia. Kuzivaishe is now ranked number one in Africa based on the Confederation of African Tennis ranking. Superstar in the making,” read the statement.
Reacting to the performance, Chapepa’s father, Fradreck told Zimpapers Sports that her daughter had worked hard to attain the status.
“She has a bright future ahead. There were days on end when she would just concentrate on her training. She worked hard at it and it is paying off.
“What we wish as her parents is for her to scale dizzy heights and go on to play professional tennis and continue flying the country’s flag high. I encourage her to aim higher. This is not the end, more is yet to come,” said Chapepa.
He also praised Tennis Zimbabwe and the Sport and Recreation Commission.
“We say thank you to the Sport and Recreation Commission and Tennis Zimbabwe for the support.”
The young tennis ace trains with Curro Hazeldean Academy in South Africa during school holidays while locally she is under Thesly Mufunda’s Global Athlete Performance Sports.
Mufunda was overjoyed at the news. “As Global Athlete Performance Sports we are proud of Kuzivaishe. Indeed, she is a rising star. Her achievement is deserved. She is hard worker,” said the tennis coach who is based in Bulawayo.
Chapepa’s stock rose at the ITF/CAT Namibia tour where she beat South African Jordan Edwards in straight sets 6-2, 6-1 in the final. Meanwhile, Tennis Zimbabwe congratulated the whole of Team Zimbabwe players who participated at the CAT/
Southern African Junior Individual and
ITF Teams Championships in Namibia.
“Congratulations to the Under-14 girls’ team who won gold in the team event and the Under-16 girls team who won silver in the Under-16 girls’ team event at the ITF/
Southern Africa Zonal Championships
CAT in Namibia. The Under-14 boys’ team was ranked fifth while the Under-16 boys’team was ranked ninth. Our overall nation ranking was second after South Africa. The future of tennis is bright,” read the statement.