Nigeria’s hopes of advancing to the next stage of the Governor’s Cup Lagos Tennis Championship are hinged on the performances of the star players who made it to the Main Draw of the ITF pro-circuit in Lagos.
Abdulmumuni Babalola, Nigeria’s number two player who got a wild card to participate in the championship, will take on number seven seed Johan Sebastien Tatlot while Clifford Enosoregbe who got an automatic place in the Main Draw will fancy his chances against Andrew Watson.
Abdulmumuni Babalola represented Nigeria at the last Davis Cup Team Competition in Egypt the last time. His experience will come in handy when hostilities for Governor’s Cup begin today. |
While Joseph Imeh will trade volleys against Ilija Vucic, young Wild Card entrant Oyinlomo Quadri will square up against Brenda Njuki for a place in round 16 of the popular Futures in West and Central Africa.
In other matches involving Nigerians, Cifford will partner Babalola to take on Tatlot and Tom Jomby (seeded 4) in the Men’s Doubles event while Adetayo Adetunji will partner Oyinlomo to play against the pair of Ester Masuri and Oleksandra Piksun in the female team event.
Ronke Akingbade, a former national champion, will pair up with Olusola Deborah Gbadamosi as they take on Njuki and Fanny Ostlund, the number four seeds in the Doubles event just as Sarah Adegoke will rely on her partnership with Sylvia Chidera Oreigbemileke Okafor of Nigerian descent, to frustrate the efforts of tournament favourite, Conny Perrin and Valeriya Strakhova.
Other matches involving Nigerian players will be played on Tuesday, 10 October as the local stars will be looking to have a good tournament devoid of injury and unforeseen circumstances.