Zani Barnard selected for South Africa’s Federation Cup team
One of Pretoria's well-known tennis playing twins, the Barnard sisters, was selected as a member of South Africa's new Federation Cup team, which will soon be in action in a tournament in Luxembourg.
One of Pretoria’s well-known tennis-playing Barnard sisters has been included in South Africa’s latest Federation Cup team, which will be taking part in the upcoming Fed Cup Euro/Africa Zone Group 2 tournament in Luxembourg.
South Africa’s Fed Cup captain, Rene Plant, announced a well-balanced team with a few new faces for this important tournament.
The team announced comprises of Chanel Simmonds, Madrie le Roux, Theresa Van Zyl, Imaan Hassim, Zani Barnard and Sinazo Solani. The latter is a upcoming youngster and will tour with the squad as the team hitting partner.
Barnard and her twin sister, Lee, were two of the most promising junior tennis players in South Africa when they were schoolgirls at Midstream College in Centurion. They currently study at Middle Tennessee State University in the USA, where Zani has helped her University rise up the college rankings.
South Africa will be one of eight nations participating in the four-day tournament, which includes the hosts Luxembourg, as well as the likes of Austria, Bosnia/Herzegovina and Portugal.
The event will be played indoors on hard courts at the National Tennis Centre in Esch-sur-Alzette.
South Africa’s team gained promotion into the Euro/Africa Zone Group II of the Fed Cup competition last year, after beating Malta 2-1 in their play-off final on a clay court in Montenegro in April. They also defeated Montenegro (2-1), Kenya (3-0), and Finland (2-1) on their way to the promotion tie in the Europe/Africa Zone Group III tournament.
This was a great start to Rene Plant’s tenure as Fed Cup captain and she believes the new team is in prime condition to maintain their position in Group II.
“As a team, we are very excited about the upcoming Fed Cup event in Luxembourg. We are determined to maintain the momentum built from last year and have no doubt the team will give their best to solidify their position in Group II,” Plant said when she announced her team.
Thanks to the support of sponsors such as the investment company Wiphold, Tennis South Africa (TSA) have been able to create more opportunities and camps for the female players, which Plant believes will translate to more success on the court.
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