Plans are underway to increase the number of professional tennis events in the country to six, ITF World Tennis and data rights director, Andrew Moss has announced.
Currently, Kenya only hosts two tennis tournaments in a 52-week tennis calendar and Moss said the World body was keen for Kenya to grow that number in the next three years.
East Africa, which encompasses Kenya Burundi, Rwanda and Ethiopia has only eight tournaments in a calendar year.
This is a small sample size compared to countries like Egypt, Tunisia and Algeria which host over 30 tournaments in a year.
Moss said with the rise of the African Games champion Angela Okutoyi, she needs to play more tournaments at home and uplift the standards of the sport.
"If Angela plays at home, for example, it helps her avoid the cost of travelling and accommodation to other places because it is very expensive to play on the tour, ” said Moss
He said more tournaments at home will give the upcoming Kenyan players a chance to play more competitive tournaments and ranking points on home soil.
At the same time, Moss believes Kenya needs to have more facilities and support from corporate sponsorship as well as the Ministry of Sport.
“I believe the three factors must all come into play to ensure the dream of having tennis tournaments in the country becomes a reality," added Moss.
Moss had engagements with the Sports and Youth Permanent Secretary Peter Tum as well as corporates during his stay in Kenya and was upbeat about the sport in the country.
"Tennis Kenya are doing an excellent job as well as unearthing new talent in the country,” observed Moss.
He believes the country can tap more talents like Okutoyi in the future.
“The country has immense potential to churn out new talent and I believe TK needs to do more in this regard and put the sport on the global map.”
