Local players were amongst those who eyed the increased prize money and the title. Some of the countries that attended the championships included Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Mozambique, Eswatini, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), South Africa and Zambia. One of the players who had an upper hand in walking away with the P10, 000 prize was Mark Nawa who came into the tournament after having a good season. In April, Nawa pulled revenge against South African player, Siyabonga Jaca. beating him 7-6, 6-2 to clinch the International Tennis Federation (ITF) J30 Singles title. Nawa proved that he is a power to reckon with as he powered to a score of 6-1, 6-3 against Taimur Khilji on Saturday.
Nawa said the win against Khilji was worth it because he lost against him a few years ago and it was a learning curve. “I learnt a lot coming here; this is revenge for me but the main thing is to reach the finals and win this tournament. I have made the finals a few times, I have only won the junior category and I now want to win the senior category. The Botswana Open is also getting us ready for the upcoming Davis Cup. This tournament is assisting us to acclimatise to the court an get ready to face our opponents,” he said. Meanwhile, the Botswana Tennis Association (BTA) president, Oaitse Thipe, told SportMonitor that he was impressed by the growth of the tournament although sponsorship remains a challenge. He said the plan is to upgrade the Botswana Open Championships to the World ITF PRO at $15, 000 level, for the local players to get international tennis rankings points. “The number of players who registered for Botswana Open Championships has increased and we have about an extra 35 players more than last year. Maybe this is due to an increase in prize money. We have increased prize money by 100% for both men and women, with winners getting P10, 000. The total prize money for this tournament is P76, 450,” he said. In another development, a visiting South African coach brought the French Open trophy, which was displayed at the Tennis Centre. The trophy was won by Donald Ramphadi and his partner Andy Lapthorne in the quad wheelchair doubles. Thipe explained that the presence of the trophy was to encourage local players to dream big and be motivated including the Botswana Davis Cup team.
