The top players at this year’s DavNotch National Tennis Open Championship have proven to be up and doing and have all advanced to the quarterfinal stage of the championship.
Unlike the VEMP Open where there was a flurry of upsets, the DavNotch event is witnessing a massive domination by the big players in the event.
Even though pre-tournament favourite, David Ekpenyong, advanced in the Men’s Singles event, he was made to sweat for his win as emerging Yusuf Abubakar put up a severe fight against the VEMP Open champion.
Abubakar, who represented Nigeria at the African Games in Ghana, took the first set off the US-based Nigerian star, winning 6-4, before the CBN Open defending champion put in a serious fight back to win 6-4, 6-3 in the last two sets.
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Ekpenyong will now another hurdle to overcome (for the second consecutive week) when he takes on Michael Emmanuel, who made little his match against Prosper Okonkwo, which he comfortably won 6-0, 6-2.
Daniel Adeleye, smarting from his first round win at the competition, also had to battle Yahaya Sani Inabo to ensure he reached the quarterfinal of the annual DavNotch championship. The 2024 VEMP Open finalist won 3-6, 6-0, 6-2.
Also, tough playing Uche Oparaoji, who must now beat Daniel Adeleye if he must reach back-to-back semis in two weeks, was made to work for his final set win against Thomas Otu, defeating the former Nigerian number one 4-6, 6-1, 7-5.
In the women’s Singles event, Blessing Omotayo, winner of the 2024 VEMP Open championship, beat Etoro Bassey 6-1, 6-3 to set up a meeting with Favour Moses, who was also clinical with her in 6-4, 6-2 win over Toluwalashe Agunbiade.
The match that a number of tennis enthusiasts will be looking forward to on Thursday, 30 May, 2024 will be the clash between Khadijat Mohammed and Omolayo Bamidele.
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While Mohammed had a walk over in her match against Destiny Okhinaye, Bamidele defeated Amarachi Odoh 6-2, 6-1 in her second round encounter.
Other results and fixtures from the ongoing DavNotch Tennis Open have been shared below ahead of the quarterfinal round of the competition.
Nigeria Tennis Live will keep all our followers and readers updated on the latest events and developments from the competition which is scheduled to end on Saturday, 1 June, 2024.
