Kia Motors Tennis Tournament Etheve and Kante winners |07 June 2014

The Seychelles Tennis Association (STA) just completed its 3rd Kia Motors Tennis Tournament for the year from May 19 to June 1, with Benedict Etheve and Fatime Kante coming out as the winners.

The tournament saw the participation of former Seychelles number one, Benedict Etheve who was on a holiday in Seychelles.  Benedict displayed classic tennis during the two weeks and came out as the winner.  He adopted a lot of serve and volley and was frequently at the net to attack, an approach that needed a strong and fast physical condition from the player.

Many members were inspired to see such a high level of the game from Etheve, who appeared stronger than his younger years when he dominated the courts.  Benedict is currently coaching tennis in Canada and takes part in competitions from time to time. On the way to the final, Benedict eliminated local stars Damien Laporte, Shaun Andriamaro, Stefan Romain before winning 2-0 (6-4 and 6-2) in the final against Titouan Roquain.

According to Benedict, the level of tennis in Seychelles has improved a lot, especially among the younger players. However, he feels that the players, including the senior ones, need to include out of court workouts in order to strengthen their physique and boost endurance on the court.

He finds the players are only focusing on playing tennis but not building up their physique.
 
“You may have good strokes, but you also need to boost your fitness level in order to be fast on the court and play for hours,” was his advice to the younger players.

On the ladies’ side, top seed Sarah Rene was not able to defend her title, losing to Fatime Kante in the final.  Fatime came up with a different game plan this time to prevent Sarah from winning her games.

Sarah, who is used to playing hard shots and long rallies, encountered difficulties with Fatime’s short balls and drop shots.

After the match, Sarah vowed to go work on how to counter the short balls and drop shots so that she can get back to her winning ways.
 
Fatime Kante in return adopted the strategy to vary her game plan during the match rather than sticking to one style, so that she continues to dominate the game.

The results itself were evident as during the first set, the games were longer and once Fatime changed her game in the second set, she ended it 6-1, to win the game 2-0 (7-5 and 6-1).

The STA continues to encourage more people to join tennis.  There is a call for adult players who were once among the National Team to come back to the sport, and the association will have rackets to give as an incentive.  This will help create more competition among the players and help the younger generation of players grow in the sport.

The association together with the Physical Education Unit in the Ministry of Education is trying to spread tennis in schools by assisting them with their specific requirements, e.g., providing rackets and balls and training to the physical education teachers.