ITF

Olympic Committee, as well as other potential sponsors. It is understandable to ask how long it will take for southern Africa to produce players who can make it to the highest level of the professional ranks, but it's not always a reasonable approach. There are some exciting players from the region, but to get the help they need, and to be able to compete in tournaments to rise up the international player pathway, takes more funding and family support than many can reasonably muster. "The problem is not so much the training, but the travel," Masunga says, "getting to tournaments and playing without having to spend too much on travel. We don't have many of the ITF World Tennis Tour $15K and $25K men's tournaments, whereas there is much better access from Tunisia, year-round. That is the key. "We recently had an under-12 tournament in Mozambique, and we had some very exciting players of 11 and 12. If we're able to build around them, whether in southern Africa or at the African Training Centre in Tunisia, then it's possible we will have some players in the professional rankings before long. "We haven't yet had an Angella Okutoyi [the Kenyan who was the Wimbledon girls doubles champion 2022], but that's what we aspire to." There is currently one massive asset for efforts to grow tennis in southern Africa: Ons Jabeur. The three-time Grand Slam finalist is an icon promoting tennis for women, tennis in the Arab world, and tennis in Africa, and she has an impact in southern Africa too. "Although she's all the way up in Tunisia, and culturally somewhat different," says Masunga, "she is still a role model for kids in southern Africa, mainly because the pathway she has taken is very similar to the route they're taking. In particular she has played the African Junior Championships, including when the AJCs were held in Botswana in 2011 – you still hear people in Gaborone saying 'You know, Ons played on these courts!' "So for the kids, hearing that she played on the courts they're playing on provides a touch of reality, and I'm able to use her as an example in many presentations. She's also assisted by two Africans, her coach and her husband – which shows the players, parents and coaches that it can be done within our own system. She's a big motivator for a lot of players in southern Africa." After Anderson and Harris, who knows how long it will take for the next player from southern Africa to establish themselves in the top 100? For now, tennis fans must enjoy the low-level successes, which can be equally heart-warming and life-affirming, even if they don't produce world- beaters. Most of the players who have made up the Malawi national under-14 and under-12 teams in recent years have come from the 'Saved by the ball' programme, so even the lowest-ranking initiatives have a role to play in building up tennis's standing in the sporting consciousness of southern Africa. Masunga adds, "Some of the activities we're involved in are just a way for us to have a small impact in the lives of these kids, for them to experience the sport and have some happiness during their day. That's worth doing on its own, and indirectly we contribute to making tennis accessible for all." n black, short, tennis player from one of impoverished the world, but ambitions are to be champion and to others like me. Montsi (RSA) le : an ITF World Tennis Tour Mozambique; 2023 Wimbledon Botswana's Davis Cup team IV; South Africa's Kholo of Madagascar ITF World Summer 2023 39 DEVELOPMENT

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