Mary Udoffa produced some moments of brilliance to edge crowd favourite, Success Ogunjobi and qualify for the final of the Zenith Bank Next Generation Masters.
Udoffa will be on a ‘collision course’ with Etoro Bassey, her counterpart from Akwa-Ibom, in what promises to be an interesting encounter.
Both players have been consistent over the years with their tennis growth, and their invitation to the Zenith Bank Next Gen Masters is a testament to their development.
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Spectators will be expecting nothing short of big serves, powerful forehands, beautiful volleys, academy standard-backhands and drop shots that beg for attention from both players.
In the boys’ event, Jimoh Joseph overcame what was a frantic end to the finale which kept the spectators on the edge of their seats all afternoon during his match against John Peter Oche.
After what looked like both players holding their own, Abuja-based Joseph raced to an impressive 7-4 lead against the Lagos boy and it looked like everything had been over.
Oche, however, had other tricks off his sleeves and he deployed his tactics to perfection, forcing his opponent to make unforced errors and dragged the game to a 7-7 stalemate in the pro set.
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It was Joseph who would have the last laugh, though, as he dug deep to contain his rampaging opponent who was also buoyed by the excited spectators inside the tennis section of the Ikoyi Club 1938.
The match ended 9-7 in favour of the Abuja boy, but it was not without huge congratulatory messages going his opponent’s way as he gave a good account of himself and played some of his best tennis.
Joseph will now come up against Henry Aina who was clearly the better player when he met Thankgod Adakole, another outstanding junior player.
Ondo State’s Aina won 9-4 with some beautifully executed serve and volley tricks which he brought to fore when he was almost pushed against the wall by his relentless opponent.
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Thus, the finale between the Abuja and Ondo boy is delicately poised for Sunday inside the Ikoyi Club 1938, Lagos, in what is expected to be an end-to-end action.
Nigeria Tennis Live will be on hand to give our readers all the updates from the grand finale of the event which has been as exciting as stimulating in the past few days.