David Ekpenyong may have been effectively ruled out of playing at the Davis Cup Africa Group III Qualifier event holding in Abuja, Nigeria Tennis Live has gathered.
Although the initial list shared on the Davis Cup website was meant to be the official one for the event, circumstances have warranted a change to the list.
Nigeria Tennis Live had initially reported that Ekpenyong, Nigeria’s number one player, was suspended by his Abuja-based Academy for a month over ‘infractions’ and the tennis world woke up to the shocking report that he had to leave the FCT during this period as part of the suspension.
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Our correspondent was inundated with calls to find out what transpired between the US-based teenager and his Academy, but nothing beyond the ‘now deleted’ report could be offered.
The latest development is now that the player is not likely to participate at the Davis Cup event as the impasse between him and his academy could not be resolved.
As the Nigerian team continue preparations for the all-important competition, Nigeria Tennis Live gathered that Wilson Igbinovia, also US-based, will be joining the team instead as Ekpenyong has not been sighted anywhere around the training camp since it was opened on Monday, 1 July, 2024.
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Consequently, the five players representing Nigeria at the Davis Cup Africa Group III Qualifier will be Daniel Adeleye, Uche Oparaoji, Wilson Igbinovia, Michael Emmanuel and Christopher Bulus.
As at the time of filing this report, the list of players representing Nigeria had yet to be updated on the Davis Cup website, but reports are that Ekpenyong may have been ruled out of the competition.
Nigeria will battle Namibia, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Benin Republic and Zimbabwe for the three promotional tickets available.
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Of the six teams, three will gain promotion, while two will be relegated to Group IV. Only one team will maintain status quo in Group III at the end of the week-long event.
The tennis section of the National Stadium (Package B) will host the competition from Tuesday, 16 – Saturday, 20 July, 2024 and Nigeria Tennis Live will update our readers on activities from the event.