Winnie Birungi and Frank Tayebwa have defended the Uganda National Tennis Championship (UNTC) titles having triumphed in the season 2 finals played on Sunday at Lugogo Tennis Complex in Kampala.
Winnie Birungi beat Patience Athieno 6-3 6-2 in the women’s final while Frank Tayebwa beat Marvin Kiriwo 6-3 6-2 in the men’s final which was the last match of the campaign.
For the Women, who arrived in the country on Sunday morning from national duty in Nairobi Kenya where they saved Uganda from losing its position in the Billie Jean King Cup Group III, it was dejavu at their UNTC final. Birungi retained the Championship title after playing more aggressively than her opponent, Athieno, who is a known master at defensive play. Striking the ball hard with pace and consistency, Winnie forced Patience to commit unforced errors severally after long rallies. 6-3 6-2 was the final score.
In the mens final between Tayebwa and Marvin Kiriwo, the later started by breaking his opponent. Frank immediately broke back and purposefully varied his game with fast and slow shots while attacking at the net, leaving his opponent wrong-footed and with a high unforced error count. A set down, the second set was an even taller order for Marvin who slowy and steadily saw the trip to France slip out of his hands. Frank piled the pressure and kept up with his strategy, causing Marvin to succumb to the unending flow of unforced errors he was committing. 6-3 6-2 was the final score.
However, the men’s semi-finals were also played on the same day (season finale) but for the women’s division, it was only the final played, at the Centre Court.
The day began with a very entertaining semifinal between Trevor Kazibwe and Marvin Kiriwo. Both players played with laser focus and great composure, hitting the ball hard and deep. The day however went to Marvin Kiriwo who gained from Trevors unforced errors to open up an early 5-2 lead in the first set. Trevor found his footing and dominated the next couple of games to level the games at 5-5 before Marvin bounced back to win the set 7-5. With a set in his pocket, Marvin went into beast mode, forcing a 4-0 lead in the second set. Trevor failed to fix his unforced errors problem, but managed to avoid a bagel making the final score of the second set 6-2.
In the other semi-final, with a 6-0 6-1 final score, Frank Tayebwa showed Troy Zziwa the stuff champions are made of, completely dominating the match with a well executed strategy that pushed his opponent to the edge of a mental breakdown, denying him any chance of settling in the game.
At the end of it all, the sibling champions, Winnie Birungi and Frank Tayebwa, will again travel to France for another 2 month stint at the Association Familiae Turkheim Club in France. Their coach, Charles Ssenyange, was recognised for his efforts that have produced back-back UNTC champions.
UNTC Publicity Secretary, Victor Drile was grateful to all who made this year’s championship a success inspite of all the challenges.
