Ex-Kenyan tennis player lands ATP role

Former Kenya Davis Cup player Eno Polo has been elected by the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Player Council to serve on the Board of Directors.

ATP is the governing body of men’s professional tennis.

He will begin his role as Player Representative for the International Region effective from January 2021.

He is part of the seven-person ATP Board of Directors, consisting of three Player representatives, three tournament representatives and the ATP Chairman, Andrea Gaudenzi.

The 53-year-old Strathmore and Trinity University in Texas alumnus, played professional tennis on the ATP circuit for four years before moving into a professional career at Nike. This then opened other prestigious opportunities for him like having roles at Juventus, Havaianas, Global Brands Group and Seven Global, a joint venture with David Beckham.

The ATP Tour, founded in 1990, is a  partnership between players and tournaments. In the tour, the world’s best players compete for the coveted FedEx ATP Rankings points and prestigious ATP titles throughout the January to November season.  

The season is later crowned by the Nitto ATP Finals, where only the top eight singles players and doubles teams compete, before crowning the winner.

He will be responsible for representing the interests of ATP players in decision-making processes while working with the other player and tournament representatives in overseeing the governance, strategic vision, rules and operations of the ATP.

Polo first played in the Davis Cup in 1986 where Kenya lost 3-2 to Morocco in the Quarterfinals.

He continued to feature in the different levels of the contest until 1994. His most notable Davis Cup was the Euro/Africa Zone semi finals in 1992 where Polo and his teammate Paul Wekesa were one match shy of the World Group playoffs.

During his active days as a player, he won 16 singles, lost 21 doubles and 15 ties.