After playing through the qualifying rounds to land in the Main Draws of the ongoing Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Open, Michael Ayoola is relishing the opportunity to star against Abdulmumin Babalola.
Ayoola, a Lagos-based junior tennis player may have felt hard done by with the draws, after scaling the hurdle of making it to the first round only to face the legendary player.
But the youngster isn’t losing sleep over the encounter and is hoping to give it his best shot, especially since he has nothing to lose.
Babalola, six time winner of the CBN Open, has always harped on youngsters taking the place of more established players like himself.
And would fancy Ayoola springing a surprise when they square against each other this morning om court seven of the National Stadium, Abuja.
The youngster, on the other hand, is not pressuring himself into conceding against the former Nigerian number one, as he stated clearly that he will play his best game.
Asked if he was scared of the giant player, Ayoola said: “No.”
And continued quite confidently too, “I’m just going there and play my best tennis.
“He is a very good player and experienced, but I will make sure I give my best play.”
Recall that Ayoola lost out his exhibition match against Oyinlomo Quadre, in their first outings post Covid-19.
Even though he expressed disappointment at himself for losing that match, Ayoola argued that he’d train harder for subsequent matches.
The match starts by 9am today.
Nigeria Tennis Live will monitor the encounter and report all the updates from the tournament.