Governor’s Cup: Unseeded Imeh Battles Top 200 Player In Bid To Qualify For Quarterfinal

After his unbelievable performance which earned him a place in the second round of the second leg at the Governor’s Cup Lagos Tennis Championship in Lagos, Nigeria’s Joseph Imeh is hoping to continue his roller-coaster ride to clinch a spot in the quarter final.

Imeh put up a virtuoso display in front of the ever supportive Lagos crowd on Tuesday morning, to defeat Dutch star, Fransen Stephan in the final set, winning 0-6, 6-3, 6-0.

According to the draw, the CBN Open finalist who made it to the Main Draw by defeating ageless Nigerian tennis star, Abdulmumin Babalola, will now test his strength against Cem Ilkel, a top 200 player who is the tournament’s number four seed.

The Nigerian player is believed to not stand any chance against Ilkel who has been on the circuit through the year, but with his performance so far in the tournament, it will be impossible not to give him the benefit of doubt in his match.

Imeh will be in action this morning inside the Lord Rumens Court on Wednesday morning.

Top Nigerian coach, Rotimi Akinloye had in a brief chat with Nigerian Tennis Live, noted that when Nigerian players lose to top oppositions, it should not be regarded as a shameful loss because of the level of exposure of both parties.

He however, noted that seeing Nigerians put up such amazing performances as Imeh did, goes a long way to show the class that an average Nigerian tennis player possesses if he gets to play more pro-circuits throughout the year.

The Governor’s Cup which is in its 17th consecutive year is the only ITF pro-circuit (of its status) serving the West and Central African region and offers a prize money of $25,000+H.

Nigerian Tennis Live will monitor the match between the Nigerian and his Turkish counterpart and drop the story like it’s hot when they clash in the first match on the centre court on Wednesday morning.