Young Davin set for Wimbledon

SUZELLE Davin will become the first Namibian female tennis player to compete at Junior Wimbledon, which starts in London next Monday.

Davin qualified for one of the world’s most prestige tournaments after she worked her way up the International Tennis Federations (ITF) rankings. She is ranked 108 in the world under the junior female category and only the players above the 200 mark are considered for the tournament.A total of 64 junior players will compete at the event.She will also be the only African player in the female junior category at the event, which is expected to end in July.Namibia’s top male player Jurgens Strydom represented Namibia at the same event last year, also the first time for junior men.In an interview with The Namibian Sport yesterday, Davin said she had mixed feelings about competing at the event.”I am nervous but I am also excited at the same time.This will be my first time in a Grand Slam and I cannot really describe the feeling of playing there, said the 18-year-old player.Davin, who started her career at 16, said she intended to move into the junior ranks next year, and this tournament served as the “cherry on the cake” in her junior career.”It is really wonderful to finish my junior career by playing at the Junior Wimbledon,” she said.The draw for the event still needs to be done and Davin does not know who her opponent will be in her opening match, but reckons that the ones that are there are all top junior tennis players.”The event has the best junior players and competition will be tough.I will go out there and enjoy myself,” said Davin, who is a Grade 12 learner at the Bloemhof Girls School in Stellenbosch, South Africa.Before the actual tournament, Davin will play warm-up matches in a pre-event in Roehampton, also in London.Asked what she thought about the large crowds who would be watching her, Davin said: “I have played a lot of matches in my career and I am kind of used to the crowds.I know I will just go out there and play my tennis.I don’t have any fear, but maybe just the fear of losing,” she said.Davin has won several major tournaments in Namibia and across the world, but regards the Junior Wimbledon as her largest and wants to do well.She said she has gained a lot of experience through her participation in especially the Fed Cup with three other Namibian players, including veteran player and coach Elizma Nortje.Davin regards Russia’s Maria Sharapova and Spain’s Rafael Nadal as her favourite tennis players and thinks that she might also get to play at that stage one day.”They are young and dedicated players and they both serve as an inspiration to many young tennis players across the world,” she added.Asked if she wanted to be a fully-fledged professional player in the future, Davin said she might, but first needed to concentrate on her school career.At Bloemhof Girls School, Davin is one of the top players and her school is currently the South African school champions in the game.She said she aimed to go for further studies in the United States of America next year, but would also further her tennis career while she was there.She has been offered a scholarship to study in the US, but was still undecided to which university she would join.One of the universities is in Texas, while the other is in Ohio.She is ranked 108 in the world under the junior female category and only the players above the 200 mark are considered for the tournament.A total of 64 junior players will compete at the event.She will also be the only African player in the female junior category at the event, which is expected to end in July.Namibia’s top male player Jurgens Strydom represented Namibia at the same event last year, also the first time for junior men.In an interview with The Namibian Sport yesterday, Davin said she had mixed feelings about competing at the event.”I am nervous but I am also excited at the same time.This will be my first time in a Grand Slam and I cannot really describe the feeling of playing there, said the 18-year-old player.Davin, who started her career at 16, said she intended to move into the junior ranks next year, and this tournament served as the “cherry on the cake” in her junior career.”It is really wonderful to finish my junior career by playing at the Junior Wimbledon,” she said.The draw for the event still needs to be done and Davin does not know who her opponent will be in her opening match, but reckons that the ones that are there are all top junior tennis players.”The event has the best junior players and competition will be tough.I will go out there and enjoy myself,” said Davin, who is a Grade 12 learner at the Bloemhof Girls School in Stellenbosch, South Africa.Before the actual tournament, Davin will play warm-up matches in a pre-event in Roehampton, also in London.Asked what she thought about the large crowds who would be watching her, Davin said: “I have played a lot of matches in my career and I am kind of used to the crowds.I know I will just go out there and play my tennis.I don’t have any fear, but maybe just the fear of losing,” she said.Davin has won several major tournaments in Namibia and across the world, but regards the Junior Wimbledon as her largest and wants to do well.She said she has gained a lot of experience through her participation in especially the Fed Cup with three other Namibian players, including veteran player and coach Elizma Nortje.Davin regards Russia’s Maria Sharapova and Spain’s Rafael Nadal as her favourite tennis players and thinks that she might also get to play at that stage one day.”They are young and dedicated players and they both serve as an inspiration to many young tennis players across the world,” she added.Asked if she wanted to be a fully-fledged professional player in the future, Davin said she might, but first needed to concentrate on her school career.At Bloemhof Girls School, Davin is one of the top players and her school is currently the South African school champions in the game.She said she aimed to go for further studies in the United States of America next year, but would also further her tennis career while she was there.She has been offered a scholarship to study in the US, but was still undecided to which university she would join.One of the universities is in Texas, while the other is in Ohio.