Mark Kaheru of utl (left) hands over the award to Mugabe

UGANDAN teenage tennis star Duncan Mugabe has said that the current media hype will not derail him from his focus on improving his International Tennis Federation (ITF) ranking, reports Swalley Kenyi.

Mugabe, who plans to leave for Florida, US, soon, feels the media is over hyping him after he won both the Uganda tennis Open and Kenya Open in a space of one week.

The reigning USPA tennis player of the year was yesterday picking his award as the utl-USPA sports personality of February.

USPA voted Mugabe after he ended Uganda’s seven-year drought in the Uganda Open with straight sets victory over Kenyan Denis Ochieng in February.

Flanked by his manager Cedric Babu, Mugabe promised to use his three USPA accolades to propel himself to greater heights.

After capturing both the Uganda and Kenya Open, Mugabe said he was focused to rise on the ITF ranking before he turns 20, next year.

“I have set targets for myself and hope that the media hype will not derail me. He is ranked 730 in the world.