10 Apr 2024

Local tennis player, Mark Nawa will today play in the quarterfinals of the ITF World Tennis Tour Juniors second leg, after beating Aston Joshua of Great Britain 7-5, 7-6 on Wednesday.

Nawa told BOPA that he played well in the first set given that he went 4-2 up but went a bit low as the game progressed, something his opponent capitalised on.

According to Nawa, Joshua was a very tough opponent and they played together in the J30 first leg last week.

“He is a hard hitter and overall, he is a tough player to beat but in this match I made sure I stayed very solid,” he said.

Nawa said he intended to go all the way to the finals, adding that his ambition was to win the title given that he missed it by an inch in the first round because he lost in the finals.

Last week in the first leg finals, Nawa lost 3-6,2-6 to South African Guy Vorwerk, and said this time, he would work on his mental strength.

“I just have to stay focused and play well so that I can manage to progress all the way. The most important thing will be to control my nerves,” he said.

Meanwhile it was a bad day in office for other local tennis players as Esi Molefe who lost 7-6, 6-1 to South African, Alexander Hristov while Seabo Saleshando lost 6-4, 6-3 to Mpho Leshoele of Lesotho.

South African Celina Joseph won 6-0, 6-1 against Mbali Nonhle, Kagello Marumo lost 6-1, 6-1 to South African Sophia Fuller. ENDS