Nawa falls short of Vorwerk in the final
Calistus Kolantsho | Tuesday April 9, 2024 08:13
Vorwerk snatched the title with a convincing score of 6-3, 6-2. Vorwerk went into the match with an upper hand because he was ranked 239 in the ITF World rankings while Nawa was ranked 383. Nawa started the match motivated to win his first title but his dream faded quickly when he started trailing by two sets.
He seemed to be getting frustrated as he lost points through what seemed like easy balls. Between points, Nawa would take a walk to the court fence to wipe the sweat from his face, as the extreme temperature continued hitting the two players. Nawa’s inexperience sharply contrasted with the nous of Vorwerk who seemed to know exactly what to do. At some point during the game, the South African showed off his skill. But Nawa did not give up as he dug deeper than before as the games progressed and somehow he gradually seemed to be on the path to turn his fortunes around.
However, that was not enough. Speaking to SportMonitor, Nawa said when the tournament started, his plan was to reach the final in order to improve his rankings, which he achieved and his other aim was to win a title because he has made many finals before. “Unfortunately this time I came a bit short but I feel I played much better against him than before. I have played Vorwerk before and today’s results are an indication that I worked very hard because I really wanted to win it. I am motivated to work hard for the next leg next week.
I really cannot point out what really killed me because I played well but I feel I was nervous in the match from the beginning because I started playing well very late into the first set. I now know what to do moving forward if I want to win,” Nawa said. He said only if he could have played the same way he did towards the end of the match, results could have been different. Nawa said he needs to maintain service game because they are an important aspect in a singles game because losing a serve puts him in a difficult situation. Nawa was part of Team Botswana that competed at the African Games that were held in Ghana.
“There were many top players at the African Games, which made me to want to reach their level. Watching such quality players, some whom are in the pro circuit motivates someone like me because I do not get to see them when I come from a country like Botswana,” Nawa said.
For his part, Vorwerk said his plan was to walk away with the title and play good tennis. “I started the week playing good tennis which led me to qualifying for the final against Mark. I have played against him before in other tournaments but today he was on top of his game. Regarding the weather, it was humid, I was sweating a lot and was forced to hydrate a lot,” Vorwerk said. The women’s singles title was won by South African player, Celina Joseph edging her fellow counterpart, Luise Helena 6-4 6-3.