Nigeria’s prospects of advancing to the World Group 2 of the Davis Cup team tennis championship suffered a huge blow when the pair of Abdulmumuni Babalola and Clifford Ensoregbe, fought but could not overcome the highly experienced Egyptians.
Naija Tennis Special checks on the Davis Cup official website showed that the pair of Youssef Hossam and Sherif Sabry were made to sweat for their 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 defeat of the highly talented Nigerian players who made sure they represented the country very well in the land of the pyramids.
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| Clifford Enosoregbe partnered Abdulmumuni Babalola to ensure Nigeria’s pride remains intact at the ongoing Davis Cup team tournament in Egypt. |
Nigeria’s captain, Benson Ishicheli, had assured Nigerians of the players’ ability to bring glory to the country at this year’s team tournament and their first match against host Egypt proved just that, even though they were playing on clay – a terrain Nigerians are not so familiar with.
The Egyptians took the first set but the Nigerian pair bounced back in full swing in the second set, taking the game at 7-5, and settled down to ensure an unprecedented win. But the home players were not ready to let their home fans down and did justice to the game, winning 6-3 in the final set.
Up next for the Nigerian side is their tie against Zimbabwe, who themselves are no push overs. But after the experience of nearly stopping Egypt, the boys will be fired up to produce another breathtaking performance.
With the likes of Sylvester Emmanuel and Joseph Imeh still in the running to feature at some point in the championship, Nigerian tennis followers can be rest assured of a good outing by the team.
Nigeria faces Zimbabwe on Wednesday, 19 July while they play their final group game against Rwanda (who are the whipping boys in the group) on Friday, 21 July.
Naija Tennis Special will bring updates from the players’ performance in the North African country as they unfold.