Just a day after defending the Uganda National Tennis Championship (UNTC) men’s title in Kampala, Frank Tayebwa was one of the four players flagged off to represent Uganda at the Davis Cup by Rakuten Africa Group V to be hosted at the Cercle de Kinshasa from 21st June to 25th June 2023. The team was flagged off on Monday by Uganda Tennis Association (UTA) and National Council of Sports (NCS) officials at the Uganda Olympic Committee premises in Kampala.
Tayebwa is in Uganda’s four-player team for the Davis Cup and is one of the players to watch. The other three are; Troy Zziwa, Trevor Kazibwe and Paul Ssekandi. Legendary Coach John Oduke is the Team Captain.
At the UNTC, Tayebwa was perfect throughout the season, condemning all his opponents to defeats both in regular season and in the playoffs. He beat Marvin Kiriwo 6-3 6-2 in the men’s final to retain his title while his sister Winnie Birungi beat Patience Athieno 6-3 6-2 in the women’s final to retain her crown.
With the UNTC season 2 winding down just days to the Davis Cup, Tayebwa believes that the local competition has put him in good shape and has given him and other players competitive mentality and they will strive for the best once the event in Kinshasa serves off.
“UNTC has helped us to prepare very well for Davis Cup because it kept us active throughout the six months we have been playing so it’s a good thing,” Tayebwa said.
Albeit coming out of the UNTC without losing a single set, Tayebwa is aware that the Davis Cup is a different competition all together with highly rated opponents but he is fired up for the showpiece, picking motivation from the weekend win Kampala.
“Davis Cup is a big tournament..it’s on a different level. I have been therefore before and I know it’s tough but me and my teammates will give it our best,” Tayebwa noted adding that; “winning and defending the UNTC championship was a good thing for me and now I head to Kinshasa with a winning mentality, eager to get going.”
At this year’s Davis Cup, Uganda will join Gabon, Congo RDC, Congo, Tanzania, Burundi, Mauritius, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Djibouti, Lesotho and Seychelles.
The format of play will be round-robin. There will be four groups of 3 teams (Pools A, B, C and D). The Groups will be determined in the Captain’s Meeting to be held on 21.06.2023.
The group stage will be played from Wednesday 21 June to Friday 23 June. The play-offs will be played on Saturday, June 24 and there will be two promotions and no relegation.
The winners of each pool will compete as follows for a qualification in Africa Group IV in 2023. A1 v D1 & B1 v C1. The other teams will compete to determine their ranking at the end of the event.
