His defeat of Shehu Lawal for the very first time strengthened the belief of Nigerian number tennis player, Sylvester Emmanuel, that he can achieve greatness.
He made this known to Nigeria Tennis Live during a live Instagram session, where he poured out his mind on his hard work and resilience over the years.
Major, as the dark-skinned tennis star is fondly called, noted that his defeat of the legendary player made him consistently strive to become the very best in the country.
Asked how he felt the very first time he beat the talented Nigerian super star, Sylvester smiled widely and said: “Mehn, this is a very good question. I felt so happy.
“The first senior player I’ll ever beat in my senior career was Shehu Lawal, actually.
“I won against Shehu at the Rainoil Masters in January that year. It was the very first edition.
“When I won against him, I was so happy. I was like wait o, so I can actually beat these guys and all, you get.”
Speaking further on the win and how it made him stronger mentally, the CBN Open defending Champion said: “Winning against Shehu made me believe that I could do more in Nigerian tennis, that I could achieve a lot.
“It made me believe that if I could beat him, why can’t I beat Babalola? Why can’t I beat Clifford? Why can’t I beat the rest of them?“
On how he would feel if a younger player comes up to take the shine off him, the Davis Cup player stated categorically, that it will surely happen.
“If any of them beats me, I’ll take it like that, that it’s their time.
“But if they beat me now, I’d be disappointed in myself. But if it’s later, I’ll accept,” the former junior international told our correspondent during the live chat.
Nigeria Tennis Live will keep updating our followers with more updates from the live session which opened up a can of worms, please stay tuned.
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