Eno Polo, a former Kenyan Davis Cup player, has been elected by the ATP Player Council to serve in its Board of Directors.
Polo, born and raised in Kenya, went to Strathmore College before attending Trinity University in Texas, USA.
After playing professional tennis on the ATP circuit for four years, he moved into a 14-year professional career at Nike followed by roles at Juventus F.C., Havaianas, Global Brands Group, and Seven Global a joint venture with David Beckham.
Polo played in a golden era of Kenyan tennis alongside Paul Wekesa as the country played in the top tier of the Davis Cup in the 80s and 90s.
The ATP Tour, the governing body of men’s professional tennis, was founded in 1990 and is a 50-50 partnership between players and tournaments.
From January to November, the world’s best players battle for coveted FedEx ATP Rankings points and prestigious ATP titles throughout the season, culminating with the prestigious season-ending Nitto ATP Finals, where only the top eight singles players and doubles teams compete, and the year-end No.1 is officially crowned.
Effective 1 January 2021, Polo will begin his role as Player Representative for the International Region as part of the seven-person ATP Board of Directors, consisting of three Player Representatives, three Tournament Representatives and the ATP Chairman, Andrea Gaudenzi. Polo succeeds David Egdes and will serve a three-year term.
Polo will be responsible for representing the interests of ATP players in decision-making processes while working with the other player and tournament representatives in overseeing the governance, strategic vision, rules and operations of the ATP.
Elsewhere, Kenya top tennis player Ishmael Changawa and Ibrahim Kibet will focus on local tournaments after seeing their hope of playing in international events dashed.
Changawa was due to play in an invitational tournament in Swaziland and Kibet in Egypt later this week but the the tournament in Swaziland was cancelled by the event organisers while Kibet visa has been delayed and he withdrew from the event.
The duo was disappointed but said they will now channel their energies on the senior challenge tournaments which serve off tomorrow and will run for the next fortnight.
