Nigeria’s tennis team has overtaken Uzbekistan after defeating the Central Asians 3-1 to gain promotion to World Group II of the Davis Cup.
Nigeria qualified for the Davis Cup World Group II after an unprecedented defeat of Uzbekistan inside the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club, Onikan, Lagos to end a three-decade long absence from the World Groups.
The two-day event started with a straight sets win for the guests as Khumoyun Sultanov (ATP 615) defeated Nigeria’s Canice Abua 6-3, 6-4 to give them an advantage over the Nigerian team.
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In the second rubber, Nigeria’s number one male tennis player, Daniel Adeleye, fought back from a set down to drag Nigeria back into the tie with a 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 final set win over Uzbekistan’s Abdelaziz Usmonjonov despite cramping during the match.
On day two of the event, former top 30 ATP player, Denis Istomin, partnered Sultanov to take on the Nigerian pair of Abua and Michael Emmanuel.
Unfazed by the threats posed by their opponents, the Abuja-based Nigerian players refused to be broken by the more experienced Uzbekistans and took the first set to a tiebreak which the Nigerian side won 7-3 and took the first set 7-6(3).
In the second set, the Nigerian boys only needed a break to ensure an infamous 6-4 win against Uzbekistan and take a 2-1 lead into the fourth rubber of the Davis Cup tie.
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Ilya Ignatov (ATP 1945) played as Uzbekistan’s number one player in the reverse Singles, and had Nigeria’s Adeleye to contend with to bring his country back into the tie.
The Uzbekistan player started the match brilliantly, taking a 2-0 lead against Adeleye but after holding his serve, the Nigerian number one-ranked tennis player, buoyed by the crowd, broke Ignatov and held serve to take a 3-2 lead.
He would take another break before serving out the second set, to win the first set 6-3.
Ekiti-born Adeleye closed out the second set with a brilliant 6-4 win to give Nigeria a 3-1 lead and effectively qualify for the World Group II for the first time in about three decades.
The NTF President, Victor Ochei, who was beaming with smiles after the promotion had been confirmed, noted that he told Nigerians that he promised to deliver a World Group II ticket.
“The target is actually World Group I as I mentioned during the press conference we had a few weeks ago, and this is just one of the steps to ensure that happens,” he stated.
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Coach Benson Ishicheli led the quintet of Daniel Adeleye, Canice Abua, Michael Emmanuel, Uchenna Oparaoji and Abubakar Yusuf in what was a top-tier tennis competition.
In the new rankings released by the ITF after the event, Nigeria now sits 66 globally after moving eight spots while Uzbekistan fell to 68 from its initial 49th spot.
The draws for the World Group II ties will be held on Thursday, 12 February, 2026, where Nigeria will know her opponents in the World Group II and the host nation as well.
The World Group II tie is scheduled to hold in September, 2026 and Nigerians will be hoping to retain the hosting rights for the competition.