The Botswana Tennis Association (BTA) is also scheduled to host J60 from October 21-27 followed by J100 from October 28 to November 2. The BTA director of public relations and marketing, Tshepang Tlhankane, told SportMonitor that the J30 tournament has attracted players from different countries such as Japan, Australia, India, Great Britain and Czech Republic. He said Botswana has 12 players in the main draw and they are looking forward to a week of great tennis. “Preparations have been going well. We hit the ground running as soon as the Davis Cup fever died down.
Over the weekend, it was clear that the players were ready and they had something they were looking forward to. Our France-based player, Naledi Ragiun is here and she is seeded number two in the girls draw,” he said. Tlhankane said one of the players to watch out for is Esi Molefe who was also a member of the Davis Cup team. Tlhankane also explained that players are eligible to compete on the tour in the year they turn 13 years, if they have reached their 13th birthday on or before the start of the Singles main draw of the tournament they are competing in, until the end of the year in which the player turns 18 years. Meanwhile, the BTA president, Oatsi Thipe, said the hosting back to back tournaments has showed that they have strong administrative capacity.
