Nigeria’s campaign at the ongoing Davis Cup tennis has received a massive boost following a message to the players by Rotimi Akinloye, the head of Nigeria Tennis Federation’s technical department.
During a chat with Nigerian Tennis Live, the respected and vastly experienced ITF-rated coach hailed Nigeria’s performance at the tournament so far, describing it as being ‘solid’ and one which shows how serious the players are about the much desired promotion.
The Nigerian side led by Abdulmumin Babalola, Sylvester Emmanuel, Joseph Imeh and Christian Paul began their sojourn at the Davis Cup competition by winning all three rubbers in an emphatic fashion, thereby topping the Pool A of the Euro/Africa Group III ahead of the remaining matches.
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| Team Nigeria all ecstatic in Kenya. They are expected to keep winning their encounters as the tournament reaches its peak. |
And Coach Akinloye believes this performance is enough proof that the players are doing something really great in Kenya, adding that they just have to keep up the momentum.
“I have sent a message to them already, and they are sure to be reading it or should have read it when you called. I have told them to keep up the good work and ensure they remain focused ahead of the next set of matches,” he noted.
Asked if he thinks Nigeria can finally gain promotion from the group, he noted that: “The players wouldn’t be in Kenya if that was not the target. The objective from the onset was to ensure we gained promotion and that remains the goal.
“I believe we shall achieve it with our performance so far.”
Nigeria’s next match is against Cameroon as they consolidate on their position as one of the teams to beat at this year’s Davis Cup tournament.
The competition ends on Saturday, 23 June, and Team Nigeria will be hoping for a better result than what was obtained at the last edition of the team tournament.