International junior tennis event starts in Gaborone

The five-day tournament has players from Italy, Madagascar, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Egypt, Mauritius, Namibia, Malawi, South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe.

The competition is a Grade Five International Tennis Federation (ITF) event. Botswana Tennis Association (BTA) technical manager, Boikobo Gaolebalwe said they are hosting the tournament in order to give local players international exposure.  "It is a Grade Five tournament which means that players are here to collect points. This will have a bearing on their rankings," Gaolebalwe said. He said the advantage of staging the tournament is that hosts are allowed to field more players.