The Sunday Mail
AFTER out-muscling her foe on the tennis courts, rising star Karen Machisa has set her sights on the Grade 4 East African 18 and Under Junior circuit set for Kenya at the end of January.
Machisa said her aim was to gain more points at the tournament which will be played on clay at Nairobi Club from January 26-31.
“There isn’t much I am expecting from this tournament. Except that my desire is to win and gain more points for me to be ranked,” the shy 15-year-old said.
Last week, Machisa shrugged off some rust and conquered her fear of 17-year-old Zahra Finnigan, who booted her out of the Select Healthcare tournament at the semi-final stage in last December.
The 15-year-old beat the top seed 3-6, 6-1, 6-3 as she walked away with the New Winners Tennis tournament title in the girls category.
Currently, Finnigan sits on an ITF record of five career singles and seven double titles victories.
Machisa said the title gave her back the confidence which had been robbed of her by the semi-final loss in December.
“I hadn’t warmed up enough during the first set. So she caught me offguard, but I managed to fight back. The other thing is that she had defeated me last month so I feared she was going to defeat me again,” said Machisa, who is under the tutelage of Davis Cup team coach Martin Dzuwa.
Finnigan had entered the contest as the firm favourite but found Machisa unrelenting despite losing the fist set.
In 2013, Machisa won both the singles and doubles titles of the Under-14 girls’ ITF/CAT African Junior Circuit hosted by Botswana. Dzuwa said the clay court at Nairobi Club will suit Machisa’s type of play as body movements will be restricted by this type of surface.
Also to join Machisa and Finnigan in Kenya is 16-year-old Rufaro Chirewa, who carries a record of five singles and seven doubles titles.
From the boys’ category Andile Sibanda, Julius Mutetwa, Dennis Moses and Munesu Chatikobo have also confirmed their participation at the tournament.
