The consistent rise of Success Ogunjobi, the Nigerian version of the Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka has not gone unnoticed.
The 17-year-old Ekiti indigene has been one of Nigeria’s most talented tennis youngsters for the past five years, and despite her stop-start development, she has finally started showing more flashes of her brilliance.
Ogunjobi is just one among the plethora of talents to have come through the effervescent Coach Wunmi Ogunsakin who has been at the business end of discovering and nurturing tennis talents in Ekiti State.
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He is credited with the discovery of his sons, Seun and Seyi Ogunsakin, one of whom is currently at the ITF High Performance Centre in Tunisia, where he is currently holding sway, also, as Nigeria’s highest ranked junior male tennis player on the ITF rankings.
And in an interesting twist of fate, Ogunjobi has now matched her Ekiti counterpart after her unparalleled performance at the recently-held J30 Abuja World Tennis Tour event in Nigeria’s federal capital.
Not only was she unplayable throughout the event, she was ruthless in all the games, going on a winning streak without as much as dropping a set, despite playing some of the most difficult opponents at the tournament.
Her aggressive style of tennis which packs a lot of power to her backhand pays tribute to Sabalenka, the world number one female tennis player who recently lost the French Open to American tennis star, Coco Gauff.
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Ogunjobi who has never hidden her admiration for her role model, may not be as clinical yet, but she does appear to be on her way to becoming one of the hottest prospects out of Nigeria, especially after her recent performances at recent tournaments.
After her relocation to Abuja, Nigeria’s federal capital, where she currently lives and trains, she experienced a dip in form, a situation which may have been occasioned by a change of environment, among other factors.
However, once she found her mojo and got back on her groove, she started showing the stuff she is made of and it does appear as if there is no stopping her from where she is at the moment.
At the Rainoil Senior National Tennis Championship in Lagos early this year, she lost in the quarterfinal to Etoro Bassey, another tennis player with a lot of prospects, but the spectators knew that it was not for a lack of talent.
She followed this up by representing Ekiti State at the National Sports Festival and narrowly missed out on reaching the final of the Women’s Singles event after a pulsating match against eventual Silver medalist, Ohunene Yakubu.
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Ogunjobi dragged the match to a final set decider despite vomiting thrice during that match and having little or no medical attention. She ended the match feeling terrible for herself, but she had won the hearts of a lot of tennis fans who saluted her bravery despite the tough conditions.
With players patiently anticipating the senior national tournaments in the coming months, Nigerians should definitely put an eye on the sensational Ogunjobi. Maybe it’s time for her to win her first senior national tournament.
But win, draw or lose in the coming months, the Ekiti girl is already on her way to becoming elite status among Nigeria’s tennis players.