Following the end of the Tombim Abuja Open on Saturday, Nigerian players have started making plans to make their presence felt in the second ITF Futures which kicks off on Monday, 8 May inside the Package B of the National Stadium, Abuja.
The Nigerian players who participated in the Tombim Open could not make it past the second round in the Singles, while an appreciable number made it to the quarters in the doubles and Sylvester Emmanuel just a match away from being in the finals of the doubles.
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| Thomas Otu joins the other Nigerian players in the Main Draws of the Dayak Championship. Photo: Ewaoche Ameh. |
Reports from Abuja have it that no Nigerian player made it to the Main Draws of the Dayak Open through the Wild Card play-offs, hence they had to settle for the qualifying series which precedes major tournaments.
Thomas Otu and Christian Paul are the other Nigerians to have qualified for the Main Draws. Otu defeated Britain’s Joe Cooper in two straight sets of 6-4, 6-2, while Christian Paul was no match for another Briton, Darryl Hale, winning 6-2, 6-2.
This result means that they will both join the likes of Clifford Enosoregbe and Sylvester in the first round of the Dayak championship which is in its second year.
Joseph Imeh was not lucky enough to make it past the qualifying stage, as he faltered in a 7-6(2), 6-3 loss to Garry Tokas from India.
Henry Atseye won the first set of his match 7-5 and lost 6-3 in the second against Poland’s Mateusz Smolicki before retiring the game.
Naija Tennis Special correspondent awaits the first round pairings as the draws will be made later this evening.