The Davis Cup by Rakuten Africa Group IV draw that was held on Sunday at Onomo Hotel saw hosts Rwanda and neighbors Uganda pooled in the same group ahead of the qualifying tournament which starts on Kigali Monday, July 4 and runs until Saturday, July 9. The pair was joined in Group A by East African region counterparts Tanzania and Burundi while Botswana were on the other hand drawn in Group B alongside Angola, Congo and Democratic Republic of Congo. The teams from each group will play between themselves during the next six days of the competition and only one team that will finish top of the group will be promoted to Group C on the International Tennis Federation (ITF) rankings. Rwanda’s only target is to finish top of their group so they can regain the promotion to Group C on the ITF rankings. The hosts were upgraded to Group C after the country finished second during the Davis Cup Zone V Qualifiers held in Congo-Brazzaville in 2019 but dropped back to Group D a year later after struggling to impress in different continental assignments. The tournament comes to Rwanda for the first time and local Tennis players will be looking to make the best out of home advantage to impress. The country will be represented by five players namely Bertin Karenzi, Etienne Niyigena, Ernest Habiyambere, Joshua Muhire and Junior Hakizumwami. They have been going through intensive training sessions under the tutelage of head coach Sylvain Rutikanga, assisted by mental coach Aimable Mbejuru and fitness coach Jean Paul Niyinkunze. All the fixtures will be played at the Ecology Tennis Club located at IPRC Kigali.
