Benjamin James has reached a career high ranking spot after breaking into the final of the J30 Lagos event, his first ever ITF finals.
The Lagos-based tennis player defeated the number two and three seeds at the inaugural Junior ITF event but could not win a historic first title after being stopped by Javier Montes Jimenez from Spain.
Despite this seeming setback, however, James had done enough to reach his highest-ever ranking points and also break into the top 10 of the Nigerian players on the junior ITF rankings.
According to the new rankings released by the ITF on Monday, 10 November, the 17-year-old player moved 539 spots to now rank 1664 in the world just as Seyi Ogunsakin also moved 592 spots to sit 2230 in the world.
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The biggest mover of the week was David Edwards who moved 735 places after defeating the tournament’s number one seed, Mubarak Ganiyu, to reach the semifinals of a Junior ITF event for the first time ever. The Lagos-based tennis sensation is now ranked 2300 in the world after his feat.
Tunisia-based youngster, Ikenna Okonkwo, is also back in the top 500 after slipping from being top 200 in the world a few months ago.
He reached the third round of a J100 event in Nairobi, Kenya, last week, to move 16 spots on the rankings and now rank 493 in the world.
In the female category, Success Ogunjobi strengthened her grip on the number one spot for the Nigerian girls on the Junior ITF rankings, despite losing the final to Ohunene Yakubu. The Abuja-based youngster moved 21 spots to rank 511 in the world.
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Yakubu whose rankings dropped drastically after series of injuries that prevented her from competing, is back with a massive push as she ranks 551 in the world after 54 leaps upwards following her J30 Lagos victory.
Nigeria’s number one female tennis player, Khadijat Mohammed, is now ranked 1074 after moving 93 places following her semis appearance at the J30 Lagos event.
Another young player with a lot of push into the top 10 of Nigerian female players on the Junior ITF rankings is Emmanuella Kwange, whose 463 spots movement is the highest by any of the female tennis players.
She reached a career-high ranking of 2572 after picking valuable points in her first round match at the J30 Lagos event as she still searches for her first ever second round win in an ITF event.
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Nigerian players are already in contention for ITF points at the second leg of the J30 Lagos tournament which has players from over 12 different nations in attendance.
The second leg of the two-week event which started on Monday 10, November, 2025 will end on Saturday, 15 November, 2025, inside the tennis section of the Lagos Country Club, Ikeja-Lagos.
