Legendary Nigerian tennis superstar, Abdulmumin Babalola has revealed when he will retire from the game of tennis.
The southpaw player who is arguably the most capped Nigerian player in Davis Cup competitions, told Nigeria Tennis Live in an exclusive chat that even though his retirement date is best known to him, he shall take a bow as soon as he starts losing games in the first round of competitions.
Babalola remains one of the finest players to ever play tennis for Nigeria.
Babalola, who doubles as the players’ representative on the board of the Nigeria Tennis Federation, noted that he is presently enjoying himself with the competitions he is participating in, hence the drive to continue.
He said: “Like seriously… my retirement is best known to me, because right now, I’m just enjoying myself, playing the game and going for competitions; it’s not really like I’m still trying to compete against the younger guys.
“I love the game and I’m presently enjoying myself just the way Federer is enjoying the game and is still beating the younger ones. If I am still beating them, why should I retire?”
Asked if he does not feel pressured by the desire to defeat the players even during tournament, he noted instead: “They should be the ones to say ‘let’s beat this man and pursue him; let’s send him off the track’ which I’d be glad about.
“Some of the boys are quite ambitious when they want to play me, and they tell themselves that they don’t want to lose to me.
“My retirement will happen maybe when I start losing out in the first round, I could then say: ‘Okay, lemme just stay back at home. Or lemme just come around and watch them’.”