The trio of Christopher Bulus, Adetayo Adetunji and Oyinlomo Quadri who represented Nigeria at the just concluded Junior ITF Circuit across three legs have been rewarded with Wild Card to participate in the 2017 Governor’s Cup Lagos Tennis Championship.
Nigerian Tennis Live exclusively gathered that the players who have been outstanding junior in the country over the past few years will be able to play the ITF Futures from the Main Draw and avoid the hassles of trying to qualify through the preliminary stages.
Adetayo won the girls Singles at the first leg of the Junior ITF Circuit in Benin Republic and returned to her base in South Africa afterwards. The Commonwealth quarter finalist is expected in Nigeria any moment from now to participate in the two-week long tournament in Lagos.
Oyinlomo will hope to bounce back from her disappointing performance in Benin and Togo with a place in the Main Draws of the Governor’s Cup in Lagos. |
Bulus, another player who got the wild card slot, was a semi finalist in the first leg of the tournament, lost in the finals of the second and won the last leg while also emerging as a runner-up in the Doubles final.
The third recipient of the wild card, Oyinlomo, is a great Nigerian youngster who failed to live to her pre-tournament billing, but is still regarded as one of the most talented female players in the country alongside US-based Marylove Edwards.
Speaking with our correspondent on what he thinks about the wild cards being given to the youngsters, our impeccable source revealed that he believes it is just a way of encouraging the players and to give them more exposure.
“There is absolutely no pressure on them to perform on the ITF pro-circuit, but they just need the exposure of playing against top world players.
“I just hope they make the best of this opportunity and make Nigerians proud of them when hostilities commence at the Governor’s Cup this weekend,” the source who pleaded anonymity, informed Nigerian Tennis Live.