Michael Emmanuel, aka Akpan, has come out tops in the top-of-the-table clash against fellow Davis Cup player, Daniel Adeleye in the first round of the Dala Hard Court Tennis Championship in Kano.
Akpan, whose unbeaten record at the Davis Cup event made him an instant favourite among Nigerians, is one of the players tipped to win the Dala event after his impressive run of form.
The Abuja-based player came out tops in two straight sets against his Lagos-based opponent, a repeat of their match the last time they met at the same event in Kano. He won 6-3, 6-4 to reach the second round of the tournament.
Yusuf Abubakar also reached the second round of the Dala event after an impeccable 6-2, 6-0 win against Yusuf Abdulrasheed to set up an entertaining encounter against former Nigerian number one, Thomas Otu.
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Otu had to battle till the final set to be able to defeat Yau Sani, who reached the Main Draw via the qualifying rounds. He won the match 6-1, 4-6, 6-3.
Ehighiamuose Endurance, who also reached the Main Draw via the preliminaries, stormed into the second round after a 6-1, 6-1 win against Wild Card entrant Aliyu Idris while former top junior player, Christopher Itodo saw off Yahaya Musa, another Wild Card entrant, in two straight sets of 6-1, 6-0.
In the matches slated to be played on Tuesday, defending champion Henry Atseye, will take on Urenyang Nuhu while number one seed Uche Oparaoji will have his hands full against Nonso Madueke, another senior player.
Mambilla Barrack boys, Oluwatobi Agboola and Yahaya Sani Inabo will face off for a spot in the second round, Usman Kushimo will take on Joseph Jimoh, Prosperity Okonkwo and Chima Michael will trade serves just as last year’s semifinalist, David John, aka Akila, will play against Ezekiel Azi.
In other matches, Ikechukwu Iloputa and in-form youngster, Lucky Danjuma will have a field day on court, while Canice Abua and Musa Sani will come up against each other just as Musa Mohammed and Sulaiman Ibrahim will try to outplay one another.
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Newly-invited National Sports Festival youngster, Mubarak Ganiyu will also try to take points off Godsgift Timibra from Port Harcourt in what will be another interesting encounter as Wild Card player Shuabi Ahmed and Dahiru Muhammed do justice to their first round matches.
In the Women’s Singles, Khadijat Mohammed will seek to defend her title as she takes on Favour Godwin while senior player, Patience Onebahmoin and Favour Moses will go neck-to-neck in their first round matches.
Number one seed, Anu Ayegbusi, will plot to continue her dominance in Nigerian tennis when she squares up against budding youngster Success Ogunjobi just as lucky loser Blessing Otu will fix her gaze against Puriniman Bajo in their first round match.
African University Games Star, Omolayo Bamidele and Timipre Maxwell will go toe-to-toe in their opening match while Mary Udoffa, winner of the Zenith Bank Next Gen tournament a few months ago, stars against Idowu Lagundoye in another fixture.
In the other matches, Loveth Ogah and Stella Udokwelu will be up against each other just as VEMP Open Champion, Blessing Omotayo will ‘cook’ against Rebecca Ekpenyong.