ZIMBABWEAN tennis ace Takanyi Garanganga looks set to face a Bosnia/Herzegovina tennis player Aldin Setkic at the Dakar Open in Senegal this week in preparation for the 2015 Davis Cup Europe/Africa Zone Group II showdown against the eastern European country next year.
DANIEL NHAKANISO SPORTS REPORTER
Zimbabwe will play Bosnia/Herzegovina in Harare during the weekend of March 6 and 8 next year in their first match since earning promotion to the Europe/Africa Zone Group II early this year.
Garanganga, however, has an early opportunity to play against one of their top players in Senegal this week as the Sarajevo-born Setkic, who is ranked 226th is also part of the star studded field in Dakar.
Zimbabwe’s other Davis Cup player, Mark Fynn, was also initially scheduled to take part in the same tournament, but the Turkey-based player is among the several players who withdrew from the event.
Setkic, who is expected to come to Harare with the Bosnia/Herzegovina Davis Cup team is the highest ranked player at the Dakar Open ahead of Serbian Laslo Djere who is ranked 344th while Garanganga, who is ranked 389th in the world, is the third highest ranked player.
The Dakar Open which will be played on hard outdoor courts from today to next Sunday, has a prize purse of $15 000 and is part of the ITF Men’s Futures circuit.
It will be Garanganga’s first major tournament since his first round exit at the Champaign Challenger ATP tournament in the US last month.
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In a post on her Twitter account Zimbabwe’s ambassador to Senegal, Trudy Stevenson, said she was looking forward to Garanganga’s participation in the West African country.
“Very proud to have top young Zimbabwe #tennis pro Takanyi Garanganga playing Dakar Open next week!(sic)” she said.
The 24-year-old United Statesbased Davis Cup tennis player left the country last week after successfully conducting coaching clinics for young tennis players in the capital.
Garanganga spent some time imparting his vast tennis knowledge to young tennis players from Highfield, Mabvuku, and Alex Park Primary in a programme which was held under the auspices of Serve 4 Africa Foundation, an organisation that promotes social development of the disadvantaged and vulnerable through tennis.
