Chawafambira settles well in US

Sport
TALENTED Zimbabwe female tennis player Pauline Chawafambira has settled in well at her new base at the Eastern Arizona College in the United States.

TALENTED Zimbabwe female tennis player Pauline Chawafambira has settled in well at her new base at the Eastern Arizona College in theEastern Arizona College .

BY KENNETH NYANGANI

Chawafambira is on a six-year tennis scholarship.

The former Under-18 number one player left the country last month for her new adventure in America, becoming the 40th player from Mutare’s Mantas Tennis Academy to be awarded a tennis scholarship overseas after Genius Chidzikwe in 1996.

Chawafambira, who honed and nurtured her skills at the country’s junior tennis conveyer belt for eight years, left the country on a high note after clinching several tournaments both regionally and locally.

She won the Harare Open, the Malawi Open singles and doubles together with her Zambian partner Miriam Zulu before also winning the Zambia Open to cap up a fine year.

In an interview with Standardsport from her base on Thursday, Chawafambira said her new team-mates were a pleasure to work with and she was ready for the task ahead of her.

“At the moment everything is going on well for me. l have settled well and l am loving the environment. My tennis team is now my second family. They are caring. My first day at the school was so confusing, but now l have got lots of friends from different countries,” she said.

“I have good players and classmates from Nigeria, Ghana, Rwanda and sometimes we hook up as Africans and this has exposed me to many things and naturally, l will gain exposure in my tennis career.”

“l share a room with a Slovakian who happens to be the one who took me around the campus. Lastly, I would like to thank staff at Mantas Tennis Academy such as Freeman Nyamunokora and Mr and Mrs Martin for a great job they did for me,” she said.

Mantas Tennis Academy head coach Nyamunokora urged Chawafambira to continue working hard.

“She is a talented player. l know her as a hard worker and l urge her to continue to work as she used to do. Hopefully she will be a force to reckon with if she maintains her focus,” he added.

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