Wendy Rudhu gets US tennis scholarship

Tennis
ZIMBABWE’S top-seeded Under-18 female player Wendy Rudhu has been awarded a full scholarship at Bluefield College in West Virginia in the United States.

ZIMBABWE’S top-seeded Under-18 female player Wendy Rudhu has been awarded a full scholarship at Bluefield College in West Virginia in the United States.

EPHRAIM SHOKO SPORTS CORRESPONDENT

She left for the United States on Thursday last week.

Rudhu was spotted during the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Circuit held in Harare late last year by US-based Zimbabwean coach Thabani Sithole who recommended her to a couple of coaches including Bluefield College coach, Louis Belt who decided to take her on board.

The 18-year-old Camelot High School Upper Sixth form student was over the moon about the chance of furthering her tennis career as well as studying in the US, describing it as a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity”.

“I am naturally excited about going to the United States to further my tennis where I will be exposed to some of the best tennis facilities and coaches. I haven’t decided what I am going to study yet, but as soon as I get there I will make up my mind.

“I want to thank my parents, my tennis coaches as well as Thabani Sithole for helping me realise my dream as this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” she said.

Rudhu’s father, Stanley who is also the Midlands Tennis Board chairman, was equally excited saying he hoped her daughter’s milestone move would motivate other upcoming players to take the sport seriously.

Rudhu added that his board will this year intensify talent identification and find twining arrangements with colleges abroad.

The Kwekwe-based tennis ace won the Marilyn De Souza tournament in Bulawayo in the Under-16 category.

Last year she won the Masvingo Open.

Rudhu becomes one of the few tennis players to have earned scholarships in the United States.

Some players who have managed to showcase their skills in America on scholarships include Tsitsi Masviba, the Mawisire sisters — Fadzai and Vimbai — and Genius Chidzikwe, among others.