The Nigerian contingent to the ongoing African Junior Tennis Championship qualifiers in Togo commenced their title defence on a fantastic note as the players recorded massive wins on the first day of the series.
Unlike in previous years where the players had to go through the round robin stages, this year’s edition is a knock out phase which means all the players will have to be at their very best to be able to advance to the next round.
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| The Nigerian players performed excellently to progress to the next phase of the AJC qualifiers |
Nigerian Tennis Live gathered that the likes of Matthew Abamu, Gabriel Friday, Oyinlomo Barakat and Marylove Edwards were in blistering forms in the opening day of the qualifiers, as they all recorded great wins in Togo.
Reports reaching our correspondent have it that Gabriel defeated N’tcha Vince from Benin Republic in the final set, winning 7-5, 1-6, 6-1 while Mathew proved his mettle against Traore Chenne from Mali, in two straight sets of 6-1, 6-2.
US-based Marylove knocked out Atana Beragah from Cameroon in a 6-3, 6-1 game as Barakat got a bye to qualify for the quarter finals.
The likes of Usman Kushimo, Abua, Suleiman, Oiza and Rebecca also qualified for third round where Nigerian players will be hoping to make their marks.
Nigerian Tennis Live will keep updating the players’ progress at the week-long tennis tournament in the West African country.