Egypt ends Botswana�s tennis medal hopes

The Egyptians had an easy first set, quickly dismissing the hosts who came back stronger in the second set with Tidimane doing extremely well. Botswana took a 4-1 lead midway through the second set, raising the home crowd’s hopes of a semi-final berth. As the game progressed, the Egyptians shifted gears and took advantage of Mogopodi’s edginess.

“I really do not know what was happening today, we could have won the second set,” Mogopodi told Mmegi Sport.  Egypt clawed back after an edgy Mogopodi dropped four successive serves. The Egyptians managed to draw level as Botswana continued to struggle with serves. The Egyptians then won the next set to regain control. They finished off the hosts after Tidimane failed to return an easy ball. Earlier, Tidimane and Emmanuel Mabhechu lost 6-3, 6-2 to Mauritians Amine Ahouda and Mustapha Belcora in the boys’ doubles quarterfinals. The two went down fighting but were letdown by poor co-ordination and communication.  They made a lot of mistakes with easy balls and let the Mauritians come at them.