Tennis Zimbabwe president Regis Bhunu says they are hopeful the Davis Cup team to take on Finland in the Europe/Africa Zone Group II tie this week will fly the national flag high. Zimbabwe have a date against Finland from Friday to Sunday as they start their campaign for promotion into Group I.
They will then play either Georgia or Denmark in July in the second round. The team consists of captain Martin Dzuwa, Takanyi Garanganga, Mark Fynn and Courtney Lock. The trio of Dzuwa, Fynn and Lock are already in Finland while Garanganga still has some visa challenges.
Bhunu yesterday said they expected him to join the rest of the team soon. The hosts are going into this tie as the favourites ranked 55th in the world while the visitors are 65th on the globe.
Finland’s team is made up of Jarkko Nieminen, ranked 271, Harri Heliovaara (863), Eero Vasa (1,301) and Henri Kontinen, not ranked, comes in as the fourth player.
Kim Tiilikainen is the captain.
And looking at the rankings, the hosts appear to have the upper hand with Zimbabwe’s top player Garanganga ranked 541 while Fynn is in 1,159th place and Courtney is ranked 2,150.
Zimbabwe will be missing their number two player, Benjamin Lock, who withdrew from the team because of college commitments in the United States.
Bhunu said they remain optimistic of a positive result in Finland but feels the absence of Lock would be felt.
“Takanyi had some visa issues, which are being resolved but otherwise the rest of the guys are in Finland. Benji hasn’t managed to travel because of college commitments. It’s a big dent to us because Benji has become quite very strong these days," said Bhunu.
Bhunu yesterday said they expected him to join the rest of the team soon. The hosts are going into this tie as the favourites ranked 55th in the world while the visitors are 65th on the globe.
Finland’s team is made up of Jarkko Nieminen, ranked 271, Harri Heliovaara (863), Eero Vasa (1,301) and Henri Kontinen, not ranked, comes in as the fourth player.
Kim Tiilikainen is the captain.
And looking at the rankings, the hosts appear to have the upper hand with Zimbabwe’s top player Garanganga ranked 541 while Fynn is in 1,159th place and Courtney is ranked 2,150.
Zimbabwe will be missing their number two player, Benjamin Lock, who withdrew from the team because of college commitments in the United States.
Bhunu said they remain optimistic of a positive result in Finland but feels the absence of Lock would be felt.
“Takanyi had some visa issues, which are being resolved but otherwise the rest of the guys are in Finland. Benji hasn’t managed to travel because of college commitments. It’s a big dent to us because Benji has become quite very strong these days," said Bhunu.
By: Farai Diza
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