'Children in Botswana now have a role model': Ntungamili Raguin's rise
An unexpected star of the season so far is Ntungamili Raguin of Botswana, who made a significant name for himself at the Australian Open and sealed his place in history.
Raguin, who celebrated his 17th birthday while in Melbourne, reached the third round of the Australian Open Junior Championships after navigating qualifying and chalking up two main draw victories.
His mere presence in the main draw ensured he became the first player on record from Botswana to compete at a Grand Slam, which of course means he is the first to record a Grand Slam match-win.
Raguin’s exploits at the Happy Slam helped propel him to No. 56 in the ITF World Tennis Tour boys’ rankings, which is the highest ranking a player from Botswana has achieved.
Indeed, he is only the second player to break the Top 100 of the ITF World Tennis Tour Junior Rankings (since the introduction of the Combined Ranking in 2004) after Tapiwa Masunga, who now happens to be the ITF Development Officer for Southern Africa.
The 2024 ITF Global Tennis Report suggests the reliance upon traditional tennis nations to provide champions is weakening, with several nations identified to produce potential future winners.
While Botswana is not specifically cited, Raguin’s rise does feed into the ITF's purpose of building a pathway to the top and creating opportunities for players everywhere to chase their dreams.
Masunga is someone who knows all about the pathway for aspiring talent within Southern Africa, having progressed along it herself while she now supports that pipeline in a professional capacity.
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“I am very proud to see Ntungamili’s progress,” said Masunga. “It has been a long time coming and it sets great inspiration and momentum for tennis in Botswana to develop further. Children in Botswana now have a role model to look up to.
“I know from my own experience how much work is needed to succeed, and I believe that Ntungamili has the talent, work ethic, support around him and overall ecosystem to become a successful professional player.
“This is also an important milestone for tennis in Botswana. Ntungamili’s progress has excited not only the tennis fraternity and sports fans, but the whole country. The whole of Botswana is now following him and he really has put tennis at the front of people’s minds.”
Raguin was born Francistown – the second-largest city in Botswana, located in the north-east of the nation near the Zimbabwean border – and started playing tennis at an academy run by his father, Dominque.
While there, he was coached by Oaitse Thipe, who is now the President of the Botswana Tennis Association and someone who has really driven the desire of his nation to host international competition.
One such extravaganza was the Davis Cup Africa Group V event in July 2025 when Botswana welcomed 14 other nations to capital city Gaborone. It was there that Raguin made his competition debut in the men’s World Cup of Tennis and did not disappoint.
Raguin won all five matches he contested across singles and doubles as Botswana won promotion to Africa Group IV, while across the 2025 campaign he lifted silverware at five ITF World Tennis Tour events. Three of these were at J100 level – career-bests.
The teenager now lives and trains in France, at the Set Club Aix En Provence as part of the Thomas Enqvist Active Mentoring Program, and has done so since 2017. However, his association with and love for Botswana remains deep-rooted and unshakeable.
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Two of his titles last year were won on home soil, while hosting tournaments is just one example of the work being done in Botswana to improve the global pathway for talented players.
“Through the years, the Botswana Tennis Association has built an ecosystem to support players like Ntungamili with opportunities to play ITF World Tennis Tour Juniors events at home,” added Masunga.
“This allows players to gain valuable ranking points and put them in a position to break barriers. For the last six years since Covid, Botswana has hosted six ITF World Tennis Tour Juniors events annually.
“Across the Southern Africa region more generally, there are 37 ITF World Tennis Tour Juniors events across eight nations each year. This ecosystem allows players in the region to compete without travelling far.
“This has borne fruits for Southern Africa players, with three boys from the region currently in the Top 60 of the ITF World Tennis Tour boys’ rankings. All three have competed extensively within the region to gain ranking points.”
There are many other ways in which Botswana is strengthening the game of tennis and their work within the ITF Junior Tennis Initiative (JTI) space is well worth a mention.
As a reminder, the JTI is a key part of a National Association’s development pathway for players aged 14 and under and provides opportunities for children to pick up a racket for the first time.
The programme is often the launch point for aspiring competitive players and a platform to introduce talent to the game. A total of 823 children entered tennis through the JTI in 2025, up from 538 in 2024.
It is development work such as this which fuels the ITF's ambitious goals for the growth of tennis. Furthermore, whichever way you look, the player pathway in Botswana appears strong and is very much improving the sport for future generations.