From left: Malia Mong'ina, Naila Gikunda, Imani Kavuisya, Muyanze Kahi, Indiatsi Olembo and Fidel Castrol before Eastern Africa tennis Championships in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on July 29, 2025.
A group of six young tennis players have refused to settle for less, and is rewriting the script for their agemates on relentless pursuit of sports and academic excellence.
At a time their agemates are staying in the comfort zone, they are juggling school work with competitive tennis, and have been touted as the next big thing in Kenyan tennis.
On August 3, 2025, Kenyan tennis players Indiatsi Olembo, Muyanze Kahi and Fidel Castrol Nyabera etched their names on the history of tennis in the region when they dethroned their Burundian opponents to win the Eastern Africa Junior Team Competition for players aged 12 and under held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
The tournament was organised by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and Confederation of African Tennis (CAT).
In the same tournament, the Kenyan team of Naila Gikunda, Malia Mong’ina, and Imani Kavuisya won silver medal, under the guidance of coach Caroline Oduor.
Kenya's Caroline Oduor returns to Rosette Musoke from Uganda in their quarter-final tie during the Real Insurance Kenya Open Tennis Championship at Nairobi Club on May 28 2013.
Now, the six players have set their sights on conquering the continent. They are competing in the Africa Junior Team Championship for players aged 12 and under in Morocco. The tournament started on Monday and will run till November 23 at the Moundir Academy in Casablanca, Morocco.
They will take on opponents from Mauritania, Tunisia, Angola, Burundi, Kenya, Ghana, South Africa, Benin, Nigeria, Tanzania and hosts Morocco.
The victory by Indiatsi, Muyanze and Nyabera in Dar es Salaam was significant as it ended a six-year title drought for Kenya. The country last won the title in 2019 through Baraka Ominde, Raqeem Virani and Samson Mutua when Nairobi hosted the tournament.
For Indiatsi (12), Muyanze (11) and Nyabera (11), the triumph was more than a trophy. It was a big statement, a spark, and perhaps the beginning of Kenya’s next great tennis era.
At only 11, Muyanze speaks with the clarity and conviction of someone who already understands his vision in life. A Grade Six pupil at Aga Khan Academy Nairobi, he first held a racket at three.
JD academy
“It just started as a sport to take up time. Then I became better and decided to pursue it alongside schooling,” he says. The journey has taken him through JD Academy, Public Service Club, and now to Extreme Tennis at State House Primary School, all in Nairobi. The path has been anything, but smooth.
The closure of JD Academy and disruption of sporting activities by Covid-19 could easily have ended his pursuit of the sport, yet he kept showing up, training, and believing in himself.
Under 12 Kenya Champion Indiatsi Olembo of Extreme Tennis Academy at State House Primary School Tennis Court on September 12, 2025.
In August, in his first appearance at the Eastern Africa Junior Championships. Playing alongside Indiatsi and Nyabera, they won the boys’ title against teams from Burundi, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda, Seychelles and Comoros. The girls’ draw featured teams from Burundi, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda, Seychelles, 2024 winners Kenya and eventual champions Ethiopia.
Indiatsi's mother Faith Njue has learnt that raising a young tennis player is not just a commitment; it is a calling. Supporting her son’s dream demands sacrifice in every sense, especially financially. Tennis, she says, is an expensive sport to sustain. Every step comes with a cost: coaching fees, fitness and physiotherapy sessions, mental training, court charges, tournament entry fees, and a lot of travelling to keep him competitive. Tennis equipment is expensive. Rackets cost between Sh30,000 and Sh50,000, proper tennis shoes between Sh10,000 and Sh15,000, and tennis bags up to Sh20,000. All these are replaced every few months due to wear and tear.
Muyanze trains five times a week, balancing two-hour sessions with academics, football and swimming. His role models are World No. 1 tennis player Carlos Alcaraz from Spain and Angella Okutoyi from Kenya. They have broadened his dream into something unapologetically ambitious - to become Kenya’s first great male tennis champion.
If Muyanze embodies determination, then 12-year-old Indiatsi is the definition of resilience. A pupil at Strathmore School in Nairobi, he picked up tennis at four, and is instantly drawn to Novak Djokovic’s relentless spirit and mental toughness. That spirit has propelled him to more than 15 national trophies, and to winning the East African under-12 zonal title. Some matches are marathons. He vividly remembers his two-and-a-half-hour battle in Botswana against a Guinean opponent, a match he ultimately lost, but one that strengthened his resolve to push harder.
Ranked 35th in Africa’s under-14 category, Indiatsi is chasing an ambitious target: a top-10 continental ranking within a year. And in 2025, he took a significant step toward that goal. He was invited to the ATF 12 and Under Intercontinental Team Competition supported by the Kazakhstan Tennis Federation in Shymkent, his first event outside Africa. He represented Team Africa alongside a South African and Tunisian teammate, gaining global exposure every junior player dreams of.
Indiatsi’s daily discipline is rigorous. His mornings begin at 5:30am with schoolwork. Training follows after classes, and evenings end with academic revision. “It makes me persevere even if training is difficult,” he explains. His long-term aim is just as direct: "I want to be in the ATP top 10.”
Nyabera is the youngest of the trio in the boys’ team. A Grade Five pupil at Desert Streams School in Kibera, he discovered tennis at five and now trains at Nairobi Club and Public Service. The reason for his admiration for Djokovic is simple: “because he doesn’t throw his racket, obeys people and hugs them.”
Despite growing up in humble surroundings, Nyabera is already a decorated junior, with 15 medals and eight trophies. He plays football as a striker and enjoys swimming, but tennis remains his true love.
Fidel Castrol Nyabera after a training at the Nairobi Club on September 13, 2025.
“In football, one trophy is shared. In tennis, you win your own trophies and you can travel a lot,” he explains with a grin.
One of his proudest moments came in 2024 at the Omanyala 10s tournament, where he met Africa’s fastest man, Ferdinand Omanyala. "Omanyala told me he is the best and he gets a lot of money," he recalls, wide-eyed and motivated. His dream? To play collegiate and professional tennis in the USA.
Behind the rise of both Indiatsi and Muyanze stands Extreme Tennis Academy, one of Kenya’s most promising talent factories. Coach Collins Abala has been instrumental in shaping their development.
"Two years ago in Tanzania, we finished third. We came second last year. Last month, with players like Indiatsi and Muyanze, we won. That is big progress," he says proudly.
Abala believes Indiatsi’s Kazakhstan invitation underscored Kenya’s potential. "We have worked with him since he was four. It takes about 10 years to fully develop a player. The pathway is clear—early exposure through CAT tournaments, then ITFs."
Extreme Tennis features six coaches led by George Oyoo, nurturing about 10 competitive juniors. Retaining girls beyond age 13 remains a challenge, but emerging talents like Hilena Brook offer renewed hope. The academy emphasises a team-based approach: shared training, shared travel, shared expenses, and shared motivation. "It is cost-effective and motivating," Abala explains. "If we stick to this, we will see players go as far as Angella and beyond."
Behind every budding champion is an unsung support system, especially the parents.
Muyanze’s parents, Vincent and Victoria, rarely miss a match. Indiatsi’s parents invest heavily in travel, equipment, coaching and academic balance. Fidel’s mother ensures discipline and consistency every day, making room for tennis in a packed school life.
Disciplined schedules
Their nutritional and lifestyle routines are carefully structured—chapati, ugali, rice, proteins and fruit to fuel growing bodies; disciplined schedules to sharpen growing minds. Through tennis, the boys are learning resilience, emotional control, strategic thinking and work ethic—traits that will outlast their sporting careers.
Their next major test is the African Junior Team Championship (Under-12) scheduled for November 17–23, 2025, at the Moundir Academy in Casablanca, Morocco. Eleven nations—Mauritania, Tunisia, Angola, Burundi, Kenya, Ghana, South Africa, Benin, Nigeria, Tanzania and hosts Morocco—are competing.
Kenya qualified after winning boys’ gold and girls’ silver at the Eastern Africa Championships, securing their place among the continent’s best. This seventh edition marks Kenya’s continued presence since the competition’s launch.
Team Kenya in Morocco comprises Indiatsi, Muyanze, Nyabera and Coach-Captain Whycliffe Okenye (Boys) and Naila Gikunda, Malia Mong’ina, Imani Kavuisya and Captain-Coach Caroline Oduor (Girls).
Tennis star Naila Gikunda poses for a photo with the trophy after winning the 2024 Kenya Open Junior tennis tournament at Nairobi Club.
The Kenyans will face African powerhouses such as Egypt, South Africa, Nigeria and Morocco. Yet the Kenyan squad arrives with self-belief forged through discipline, teamwork, and an unwavering national dream.
Kenya has long celebrated Angella Okutoyi, who broke barriers at junior Grand Slams. Now, a new generation of boys is stepping boldly into the spotlight. Muyanze imagines becoming Kenya’s first great male tennis star. Indiatsi envisions ATP top-10 success. Nyabera dreams of a career that spans continents.
They are young, hungry and fearless. Their rackets are weapons. Their discipline is the foundation. Their dreams are audacious.
The journey ahead is long, the competition fierce, the sacrifices many. But as Coach Abala puts it: "The future is bright. We just need to keep moving—one day, one swing at a time."
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