Oiza and Nene Yakubu have proven that their recent trips across different parts of the country and the African continent have not gone to waste.
Both sisters are presently playing at the ongoing Rainoil Tennis Open Championship in Lagos and they shone like millions in their opening matches, even though they were made to work hard to grind out the results.
Nene, who played on the first day of the competition, was stretched to her limits by Favour Moses in the first round but she ended on the winning side. They ended up playing a long 4-5(5), 5-3, 10-7 game but it was Nene who had the last laugh.
In her own game, Oiza proved why she’s one of the competition’s top seeds by winning her first match in two straight sets, even though she battled in the second set in her match against Blessing Omotayo. The southpaw player ended with a 4-2, 5-4 (4) victory.
The Yakubu sisters will now have to be at their very best in the second round of matches which starts on Wednesday, 8 December, inside the tennis section of the Lagos Country Club, Ikeja.
Nene will have to dig deep to beat Omolade Aderemi, one of the top seeds at the tournament to have a chance of advancing to the quarterfinal stage of the Championship which pays the female singles winner N500k (five hundred thousand naira).
Meanwhile, Oiza is up against Blessing Otu, a rising youngster and sibling of former national champion, Thomas Otu, in another mouthwatering encounter which should excite the spectators at the venue of the competition.
The youngster who made it to the finals of the National Youth Games in Ilorin a few months ago, will fancy her chances against Oiza, after snatching a final set victory over Esther Olamide. She won 4-1, 0-4, 10-7.
Nigeria Tennis Live will follow up on these matches and report to our teeming audience scattered across the globe as the tournament hits the money-spinning stage in Lagos.