Burundi set to stage first international women’s tennis event
Burundi is set for a major milestone next week when the nation hosts a professional women’s tennis tournament for the first time.
Back-to-back ITF World Tennis Tour events at W25 level will be staged in the capital city Bujumbura on 3-9 and 10-16 April, with home favourite and world No. 269 Sada Nahimana set to star at her hometown club.
Burundi, one of the world’s poorest nations, is hosting a professional tennis tournament for the first time in 10 years having previously organised one men’s entry-level event each season between 2008-2013.
Nahimana, the only Burundian player with a WTA ranking, grew up a stone’s throw from the nation’s lone major tennis club L’Entente Sportive - a place she described as her ‘second home’ through her formative years. She can’t wait to bring a small part of the travelling tennis tour to her childhood stomping ground.
“I’m very excited,” she said this week from France, where she trains at the Mouratoglou Tennis Academy. “I’m a bit nervous, obviously, because I’ll be playing at home… but it’s excitement overall. Excitement to play at home, with the crowd.
“We [Burundians] are known to be so loud, supporting very loud. Even at the club when you’re practicing, people trash talk and everything... I’m looking forward to it"
“We [Burundians] are known to be so loud, supporting very loud. Even at the club when you’re practicing, people trash talk and everything,” she said, laughing. “I’m looking forward to it - not the trash talk - but the atmosphere will be good. It’s going to be very fun, honestly.”
A leading light for Burundian women’s sport in a culture better known for its football and athletics, Nahimana hopes that the arrival of an international tennis event for women can encourage more people – especially young girls – to pick up a racket.
“I think the way people see tennis in Burundi – and not just in Burundi – is that tennis is a very expensive sport,” she said. “A lot of kids do running or play soccer because you don’t have to pay for much. And it’s mostly guys they show on TV and stuff, so I think [these tournaments] will be a very good message to show that yes, tennis is a really big thing for women, and anyone can play.
“Also, in Burundi you don’t actually have to pay anything to play. The federation gave me my first racket. It will be good to pass on that message. Hopefully it will help other young kids to be able to play.”
A range of support from the ITF – through coach education, funding, participation and performance programmes – has assisted the Burundian Tennis Federation in its attempts to grow tennis, and make the sport more accessible.
A significant portion of the prize money for the two upcoming W25 Bujumbura professional events has been provided by the ITF as part of the World Tennis Tour Development Funding programme, while the venue itself benefitted from two ITF Facility Grants, allowing the federation to add four floodlit courts and expand to a 16-court facility.
The federation also utilises the ITF Junior Tennis Initiative (JTI) as a key part of its player development pathway, a programme that provides opportunities for children aged 14-and-under to pick up a racket for the first time.
As a result of support of this nature, Burundi has become the best performing country in the East Africa region. Eight boys’ and six’ girls have managed to achieve a Top 300 ITF Junior ranking, aided in part by the club’s staging of a range of junior events including the East Africa Junior Championships. They also entered a team into the Billie Jean King Cup for the first time last year.
Nahimana, too, received considerable individual support to further her professional ambitions.
The 21-year-old honed her talents during a six-year stay at the ITF/CAT African Development Centre in Casablanca, and took up a place in a number of Touring Teams though the ITF-administered Grand Slam Player Development Programme. She also received ITF Junior Player Grants in 2019 and 2020 - a reward for finishing in the Junior Top 20 - that enabled her to travel to tournaments and bolster her ranking.
“I’m not far from playing Grand Slams and stuff. I just need to change a few things. We’re working on that, to see if it can get me to try and play the French Open this year"
Now though, it’s about trying to make another leap, with Nahimana looking to take her place on some of the biggest stages in tennis.
“I feel like I’m a bit stuck [at the moment],” she admitted. “I’m not far from playing Grand Slams and stuff. I just need to change a few things. We’re working on that, to see if it can get me to try and play the French Open this year. I’m looking forward to the tournaments in Burundi and, if they go well, hopefully I will make it for the French Open.”
Whatever her fortunes over the next fortnight, the very presence of Sada - and the ITF World Tennis Tour - in Burundi is a victory for the sport.
“These two weeks in Burundi combine two fundamental objectives of the World Tennis Tour: to increase the number of hosting countries and to drive gender equality through professional tennis," said Andrew Moss, Head of ITF World Tennis Tour strategy.
"As Billie Jean King has said: “if you see it, you can be it” and we are excited about the opportunity for aspiring female players in Bujumbura to not only see world class professional tennis but to see Sada as one of the favourites to win.”