Nigeria’s chances of progressing beyond the semis of the Governor’s Cup Tennis Lagos Championship were dashed after Clifford Enosoregbe was defeated by India’s number four seed, Mukund Sasi Kumar, 6-1, 3-6, 6-2 in a 1hr 50mins affair.
The match which was decided at the Lord Rumens Centre Court at the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club was a cracker as the Nigerian star continued from where he stopped on Wednesday, when he upset number eight seed Smola Maciej from Poland 7-6 (1), 3-6, 6-2, to land in the quarter final.
Gallant Clifford tried his best in the match but his best was not enough. |
But he seemed to have encountered a serious shoulder challenge and could not perform to his maximum and was subsequently dumped out of the tournament.
While exiting the court after the encounter, the former Nigerian number one got a well-deserved applause in spite of the loss and would have been disappointed not to have won the match after doing so well at the early stages of the final set.
The only Nigerian remaining in the tournament is Sylvester Emmanuel, who will hope to do better than his Singles performance in the doubles event.
The first leg of the annual ITF-rated circuit will end on Saturday, October 15, as Nigerians will hope to get better in the second leg of the $100,000 event.