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The Red Clay of Central Africa

11:58 AM EST on February 25, 2022

By Neil Munshi
All photographs by Neil Munshi

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This week, a dispatch from Our Man in West Africa. 

[vc_empty_space height="45px"]I stumbled upon the Tennis Club de Bangui last fall, when I was in the Central African Republic reporting on Russian mercenaries that have waged a brutal campaign across the country on behalf of the C.A.R. government. The club is just around the corner from the presidential palace, in the lush foothills of the capital, Bangui. The courts were in fine shape and the clubhouse looked like it'd been painted yesterday—a perfectly preserved art deco(ish) jewel.[vc_empty_space height="45px"][vc_row full_width="stretch_row_content"]

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[vc_empty_space height="45px"]Neil Munshi is the West Africa Bureau Chief for the Financial Times. He did not encounter Boris Becker in the Central African Republic. [vc_empty_space height="45px"][vc_row full_width="stretch_row"][vc_column width="1/6"][vc_column width="1/6"][vc_column width="1/6"][vc_tweetmeme share_via="racqetmagazine"][vc_column width="1/6"][vc_facebook type="button_count"][vc_column width="1/6"][vc_column width="1/6"][vc_empty_space height="45px"][vc_column width="1/4"][vc_column width="1/2"]

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