Nigerian Tennis Live has exclusively gathered that the Nigeria Tennis Federation (NTF) is presently working on a N10million prize money tournament as part of the new tennis season.
This much was exclusively disclosed to our correspondent by Engr. Dayo Akindoju, the president of the tennis federation on Wednesday, 7 March, when he explained that the federation was already working on more championships for the players and this will go down as the biggest ever.
He told Nigerian Tennis Live that: “We are partnering with a top brand to host the biggest tennis tournament in Nigeria which we refer to as the Grand Slam of Nigerian tennis. It will be the biggest ever in the country.”
Abdulmumin Babalola is one of Nigeria’s finest players expected to feature in the tournament. |
Engr. Akindoju went further to explain that the Memorandum of Understanding for the agreement on the formalities of the tournament shall be signed in Abuja on Thursday, 8 March and the press has been invited to cover and broadcast this event throughout the country.
“The championship, according to plan, is slated for June this year. We shall communicate the details of this to the press when they come around on Thursday,” he added.
Asked if it would be an international tournament, the NTF president retorted: “No, it’s simply for the Nigerian players. We want them to know that they can play tennis and earn a living by doing that, and in Nigeria as well.
“The Singles winner will pocket N10million, that’s what the tournament is all about and we hope that Nigerian players and tennis in general will get better for it – in terms of quality and commitment – in the nearest future.”
Nigerian Tennis Live will keep tabs on developments from the nation’s Federal Capital and keep our readers abreast with information on the latest gists from the tennis world.