Following the emergence of Canice Abua as the winner of the Dala Hard Court Tennis Championship, there are talks about who becomes new Nigerian number one player.
Abua reached his second consecutive final of the Dala Championship and ensured he was second time lucky in Kano after defeating number one seed, Uche Oparaoji in a final set encounter.
As at the last time the national rankings were updated, the Abuja-based former junior player was ranked number four in the country, especially since he reached the final of the event in 2023.
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Now that he has won it, it is certain that his ranking points, which currently sit at 300, will improve immensely, however, it is not certain if he has done enough to near being Nigeria’s new number one male tennis player.
Uche Oparaoji, the tournament’s number one seed, who lost to the spirited Abua, is currently number two on the log, and reaching the final will surely do something interesting to his ranking points, but it does not look like anybody will touch David Ekpenyong’s 650 ranking points at the moment since he was not in Dala last year.
Last year’s winner, Henry Atseye, will however, have to relinquish his number three spot on the rankings after failing to defend his points in Kano.
In the Women’s event, Khadijat Mohammed went against all odds to retain her title in Kano, which will ensure that she does not drop from her second position slot on the current Women’s Singles ranking.
Anu Ayegbusi who lost to Success Ogunjobi in the first round of the competition, may, however, lose some of her ranking points after failing to advance in Kano.
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Despite losing in the final of the Women’s Singles event, Mary Udoffa is another player whose stock will rise when the new national ranking has been concluded by the Nigeria Tennis Federation (NTF).
As players look forward to the Rainoil Tennis Championship scheduled to hold from 9-15 December, 2024, inside the tennis section of Ikoyi Club, the new rankings will enable them plan for the event.
Nigeria Tennis Live will publish the new rankings as soon as they have been curated by the NTF, and share with our esteemed readers scattered across the globe.