Botswana Davis Cup Team Off to Kenya for Africa Group IV Tourney

Sunday Standard Botswana Davis Cup Team Off to Kenya for Africa Group IV Tourney Botswana’ s Davis Cup team will be hoping for a second consecutive climb up the rungs of the Davis Cup rankings when they compete at the Africa Davis Cup IV in Kenya this coming week.  The four-day event is scheduled for Nairobi, Kenya from this coming Wednesday, June 17 until June 20. Eight nations, hosts Kenya as well as Algeria, Angola, Botswana, Conga DRC, Ghana, Mozambique and Zimbabwe will compete at the event. As was the case in last year’s Africa Davis Cup Group V competition in Botswana, the eight contesting nations will be divided into two pools. They will then play round-robin matches from Wednesday to Friday. Countries finishing in the top two in both groups will then progress to the playoffs, where winners in each group face off against runners-up from opposing groups. Winners of the playoffs will then gain promotion to Africa Davis Cup III.  Botswana’s dreams at the tournament will lie on the quartet of Ntungamili Raguin, Mark Nawa, Batsumi Marobela and Seabo Saleshando, under the guidance of coach by Phenyo Matong. After a great year of achievements in the court, Botswana is expected to go into the tournament in a buoyant mood.  “I believe the team has prepared well for this tournament. We are at a level where we can compete for promotion. This is a pretty balanced group and anyone can win. But we will be going all out to compete,” Botswana Tennis Association (BTA) vice president technical Nonofo Othusitse says. His belief is based on the performances of the players these past few months. Though Botswana is sending a relatively young team, with an average age of 19 years, the team is not lacking in experience. The selected players have been in the national team for almost three years now. Most importantly, they were part of the team which earned Botswana promotion to the Africa Davis Cup Group IV last year. The only missing player from the team, however, will be the absence of Denzel Seetso, who is said to be recovering from injury. As one of the team’s oldest players, alongside Batsumi Marobela, both aged 21-years, Seetso has been an integral part of the current senior men national team. He is also one of the most experienced players, something which highlights his importance to the team. “The team will sorely miss him given his experience and what he offers. But this is no train smash. We have maintained this team as it is right now for the past three years. Even last year when we hosted the Africa Davis Cup Group V, we had six players in the team though we needed only four.” “That was to prepare for situations like this, when one of the players is not available. These players are all capable. In Seetso’s absence, I believe they will step up. They will want to prove they are also just as capable.” In terms of preparation, these past few months have been busy for the players. This year alone, Raguin has played at the Australian and French Open junior slams, the first player from Botswana to achieve the feat. He also recently made his first professional tennis appearance during the M15 Gaborone Tournament 2026. Elsewhere, the trio of Nawa, Marobela and Saleshando have been actively involved in college tennis in the United States of America. The trio are in the USA to attend college and play college tennis as part of their pathway to professional tennis.  “If you look at it, of late, our players are not going to junior colleges for tennis. They are going to colleges where they play in Division 2 and Division 1, which are the highest tiers. Just recently, Nawa transferred and committed to North Carolina Central University, which is in Division 1 from Auburn-Montgomery, which is in Division 2. That shows the calibre of our players. They are competing.” “Nawa and Saleshando were also among the local players recently made their professional tennis debuts here during the M15 Gaborone 2026. Nawa then went on to compete at the ATP $50k Challenger qualifiers in South Africa. This shows you how busy our players have been and I believe they are well prepared for the coming event,” Othusitse says. While Botswana will go to Kenya optimistic of competing and winning promotion, they will be wary of the challenges posed by their opponents. Algeria, for one, will go into the tournament as favourites. They, along with Zimbabwe, were relegated from Africa Group III this past year and will be hoping for a quick bounce back.  Elsewhere, countries like Angola and Mozambique will also be considered great threats. Both teams regularly have in their ranks players who are based abroad, which makes them dangerous prospects to face.  “They will be threats, but so are all teams in this competition. This is a pretty balanced group and any one of them can beat anyone on their day. What I am sure of however is that we are going there to compete for promotion.” Team Botswana will leave for Kenya today, Sunday June 14, and is expected to arrive later today. The team is expected to train in Kenya on Monday and Tuesday before the tournament starts on Wednesday. The post Botswana Davis Cup Team Off to Kenya for Africa Group IV Tourney first appeared on Sunday Standard and is written by Botlhale Koothupile