For the past few years, one name has remained consistent in national junior tennis competitions. The name is Abayomi Phillips.
There’s hardly any tournament that passes without him making his mark, no matter how little?
His rise to national prominence began in 2018, when he won the Zenith Bank Next Generation Junior Tennis Masters tournament as a relatively unknown youngster, defeating more recognized and established juniors.
Philips has since gone on to play Junior ITF competitions, where he shone like millions and has since courted the headlines like it was his birthright.
After this showing, he, alongside Toyin Asogba and Emmanuel Jebutu found a sponsor who assisted them to travel to Europe to play junior competitions.
The trio went to Denmark and Norway for the events but could only manage a paltry number of victories.
But, even though they didn’t win matches or gain promotion during the tour of Europe, Phillips represents a ray of hope for the average junior tennis player.
With the return of tennis in Nigeria, most of the senior players will be sure to feast on the available event and make the most of it.
But this will be a tough battle between the seniors and their junior counterparts who are trying to take over from them.
Therefore, at the 2020 edition of the CBN Open, Phillips is one of the players to watch out for, as his wealth of experience from traveling across continents and meeting new players, will come to bare when hostilities commence this weekend.