10 Jul 2024

Fourteen African countries will descend on Gaborone for the Tennis World Cup (Davis Cup) Africa Group V event, which starts from July 15 to 20. 

The countries, which will be joined by Botswana in Group V are Ethiopia, Mauritius, Madagascar, Mozambique, Congo, Gabon, Seychelles, Mauritania, Lesotho, Djibouti, Uganda, Tanzania, Sudan and Libya. 

They will compete for two spots to be promoted to Africa Group IV and Batswana will pin their hopes on their tried and tested tennis players. 

The team is made up of six players, with three US-based players being; Batsomi Marobela, Denzel Seetso and Tsholofelo Tsiang as well as Esi Molefe, Mark Nawa and Seabo Saleshando who are based in Botswana.  

While a number of people are wondering if the players have what it takes  to face their African counterparts, the players, already on camp, said they were ready and this what they said. 

Batsomi Marobela

“Preparations have been going well. My teammates and I have been in camp for the past weeks and we are ready to bring this one home, especially that it is on home soil. So we just plead with Batswana to come and rally behind us. We have to take advantage that we are home. I have been representing Botswana since I was in the Under 10 categories, until now, so I got no stage fright.”

Denzel Seetso

“We are ready. We have been preparing very well with our captain, Petrus Molefe.Honestly, we feel very good and ready for the competition, and we feel it is a good chance for promotion. So we plead with the nation to come and rally behind us. We had Botswana Open Tournament that helped us to have match practice and confidence.”

Esi Molefe

 “This will be my second time to represent Botswana in the Davis Cup and I hope to do better this year.”

Seabo Saleshando

“This is my debut in the Davis Cup and I am very excited to be part of the team. We are on home ground so we are hoping to perform very well, alongside with the great team that is with me.”

Mark Nawa

 “My teammates and I are ready and it is going to be a very good competition. We have been preparing for the tournament for a very long time, and to get to this point of playing Davis Cup is not a small feat. I want to thank my mum and sister who have been my pillar since I started my career when I was only six-years-old.” 

Tsholofelo Tsiang

 “We have been preparing well for the tournament. We have competed in the Botswana Open and it has helped us to actually gauge our readiness.” ENDS