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Brandon Moyo, [email protected]

ZIMBABWE’S tennis sensation, Kudzai Chapepa solidified her status as one of the best Under-16 players in the continent following her successful campaign at the recently ended ITF J30 Bulawayo World Tennis Tour that was held at Bulawayo Country Club.

Chapepa was the tournament’s number one seed and produced a stellar performance which saw her defeat unseeded Caressa Jackson from New Zealand in the final to claim the top honours. She also won the girls’ doubles alongside Milan Swanepoel of South Africa.

The tournament came to an end on Saturday.

Zimbabwe and Africa’s number one seed in the Under-16 girls’ category beat Jackson 2-0 with set scores of 6-4, 6-4 to win the ITF tournament on home soil.

On her road to the final, she first went past unseeded Amit Avgi of Israel, beating her 6-1 and 6-3 before going on to secure a 6-1, 6-1 win over South Africa’s Lindsey Phillips.

In the quarter finals, Chapepa beat eight seeded Israeli, Abigail Rosenski 6-3, 6-0 to set up a semi-final date against unseeded Anya Taylor from Britain. Taylor was to retire hurt from the tie with Chapepa having won the first set 6-0 before going on to beat Jackson in the final.

In the doubles, Chepepa and Swanepoel beat the duo of Xingtong Jiang (China) and Karolina Kostiukova (Ukraine) 6-0, 6-4.

– @brandon_malvin