A few years ago, Nigeria Tennis Live had drawn the attention of tennis enthusiasts and observers to Peter Ubiebi, a young talent from the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club, Onikan, Lagos.
At the time, the youngster was a naive but obviously talented player who looked set to dominated the Nigerian junior tennis scene.
Tournament after tournament, he was seen as a favourite to reach the final, and possibly win in his age category, no thanks to his dad’s influence on his game and his general disposition to tennis as his chosen sport.
Not long afterwards, his tennis suffered some sort of setback as he was not as prominent at competitions as he used to be. Even though his tennis ability was never in doubt, he was not seen competing as he used to when he was first mentioned to the tennis community.
Recently, however, Peter, son of vast and highly-respected tennis coach, Abel Ubiebi, reminded the world of his immense talent and ability during the Tennis Players Parents Association (TPPA) UTR Championship in Lagos.
READ ALSO: Peter Ubiebi: The 10-year-old Youngster With Ferocious Serve
Not only did the JSS 3 student of Triple Crown College, Ketu emerge as the runner-up in the boys’ U-14 category, he was sure to show the spectators inside the tennis section of the Lagos Country Club, Ikeja, Lagos, why he was touted as one of the next big things in Nigerian tennis.
During one of the matches in Lagos, one of the parents who watched him play described him as a complete player.
The parent who prefers to remain anonymous said in Yoruba: “This boy is a very good player, he really has everything in his game. Forehand, Backhand, Volley, Drop Shot, just name it.
“Unlike many of his agemates and colleagues, he does not sit on the baseline to defend, he comes straight to the net with a lot of confidence and he plays with so much maturity. He is a complete player for his age”.
Coach Paul Moses, who has also been handling the youngster since his resurgence, noted that the youngster is not quite the finished product yet.
READ ALSO: The Metamorphosis Of Peter Ubiebi, A Budding Tennis Phenomenon
However, he said: “Peter has what it takes to become a top player if he continues to pay attention to the instructions and follow through with our training routines and plans.
“I am happy about what people are just seeing, but I’ve always seen that he can become even more than these if he continues at the pace we are at now”.
With more individuals and organizations organizing junior competitions across the length and breadth of Lagos and Nigeria by extension, it may not be too long before this young tennis ambassador shows the world why he was always highly-rated.
Nigeria Tennis Live will keep tabs on him and his activities and share details about his progress with all our readers scattered across the globe.