Serena-trained trio from Malezi land in US

By Oscar Pilipili

There is an old saying ‘the success of any player is not how much they have achieved, but the talent they have groomed.’

If that is the case, then women’s world number one tennis player, Serena Williams, will be a satisfied person when she returns to Sadili Oval Sports Centre today.

The tennis icon will be glad to learn three of the players she trained at a tennis clinic on her first tour at the Oval last November are pursuing the sport in the US.

Joab Odera during training

Sakina Nshimirimana and Terry Odera, both of Malezi School, left for the US early this month to pursue high-performance training.

Joab Odera is also an active college tennis player in the US since he moved to the homeland of Serena last year. Elizabeth Odera of Sadili Oval was upbeat ahead of Serena’s second tour of the academy.

"The success of the three players will encourage youngsters to play more tennis. It will also make them understand the importance of sports in relation to academics," she said.

Nshimirimana is currently training and playing in tournaments in Florida under coach Bill Murray, the same coach who handled Williams’ sisters Serena and Venus until when they turned professional.

Terry has received a three-month scholarship to train at the famous Van der Meer Tennis Academy, where she joins the World Class Academy, a team of select top juniors from around the world.

Serena will definitely be thrilled to know about the progress of junior players from Lang’ata Constituency, whom she inspired at Sadili Oval when she first visited the country.

Serena’s first visit to Sadili came when she was ranked number two, but her win in the last Australian Open lifted her to the top of the world.