A total of 12 countries will grace the Billy Jean King Group 3 tennis championship at the Nairobi Club next month.
Botswana, Burundi, Ghana, Mauritius, Morocco, Namibia, Nigeria, Seychelles, Tunisia, Uganda, Zimbabwe and hosts Kenya have enlisted for the tournament, which serves off on June 12.
The tournament was formerly known as the Fed Cup.
Tennis Kenya's secretary general Wanjiru Mbugua Karani, who will serve as the tournament director said Kenya stands a good chance of promotion to the later rounds of the competition.
“We have not been competitive when pooled alongside Europeans but the International Tennis Federation has given us a lifeline through an African tournament. Playing at home gives us an advantage against our sisters from the continent,” added Karani.
Karani said Kenya will field their strongest squad which includes Wimbledon doubles junior champion Angela Okutoyi, sibling Rosehilda Asumwa and Alicia Owegi among others.
“A good number of our top players are in the United States but they should be able to come and play,” added Karani, who will be assisted by Rose Wanjala, Philip Ilako, Martha Tirop, June Namiranda, Nancy Nduku, Paurvi Rawal, Nazma, Rosemary Owino and Francis Rogoi in organising the event.
Karani added that preparations for the event have already started and promised to issue a detailed report in the coming weeks.
“Once we got the bid accepted by ITF, our preparations started and we are on course to have a successful, world-class tournament in June," added Karani.
Karani added that they are engaging with government and corporate stakeholders to join in staging the event.
“We have had big tournaments in the last two years — the W 15 Women's Senior tournament in Karen and the Women's World Tour at Peponi School. This gives us confidence that we can have a successful tournament and promote the sport of tennis in the country," she said.
