If reports making the rounds are anything to go by, the Nigeria Tennis Federation (NTF) may be planning to shock Nigerian tennis players with a new tournament before the end of the year.
Nigeria Tennis Live gathered from a few sources that the NTF is working on hosting two weeks of Junior ITF events as well as a new national tournament before the end of the year.
“It looks like the NTF is planning to host a national tournament in Benin before the end of this year. Some of us have heard about it, but we haven’t gotten all the details yet,” an impeccable source told Nigeria Tennis Live.
The source who wouldn’t want his name mentioned also stated that there are also plans to host a two-week junior ITF event in the country in the coming weeks.
But when Nigeria Tennis Live checked the ITF website to confirm the inclusion of the Nigerian tournament on the calendar, it was missing. Instead, only the initial tournaments held from May-June were listed on the website.
When asked, another source, said there are chances that the competition may still be included on the ITF website once modalities have been concluded.
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Meanwhile, should the new national tournament still take place as is being suggested, Nigerian tennis players will be having the luxury of three national tournaments before the end of the year.
The Dala Hard Court tournament in Kano and the Rainoil Senior Tennis Championship in Lagos are the other competitions that Nigerian players will be participating in, barring any unforeseen circumstance.
Nigeria Tennis Live reached out to Engr. Dayo Akindoju, the NTF president, to confirm the reports about the tournaments, and he stated that there may be a tournament in Benin before the end of the year, but that it wasn’t confirmed yet.
He also clarified the reports about the Junior ITF events this year, stating that it is slated for next year.
“Junior ITF event is for early next year,” he wrote in a message to Nigeria Tennis Live on Monday evening.
Nigerian tennis players will now keep their fingers crossed in the coming weeks as they remain hopeful that these reports materialize.