Following his sensational return to the Nigerian tennis circuit after an injury lay off, Sylvester Emmanuel may be playing his way back to the pinnacle of the national rankings, Nigerian Tennis Live has observed.
The Benue-born winner of the last two national tournaments had gone off the radar following his last minute injury ahead of the 2017 Governor’s Cup Lagos Tennis Open (Now Lagos Open) at which time he was fast becoming a huge item on the Nigerian tennis circuit.
For several weeks, the injury slowed down his pace, but he was quick to recover and participate in the Rainoil Open much later in the year. The youngster fondly regarded as Major has since played in ITF Futures around Africa and also represented Nigeria at the Davis Cup team tournament in Kenya.
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| Sylvester Emmanuel is likely to be the new top national player. |
Since the turn of the year, the younger sibling of former Nigerian number one, Sunday Emmanuel, has been in a beastly mode, defeating seemingly tough oppositions, and showing mental toughness while at it.
The most recent of his wins came via a comeback win against compatriot, Joseph Imeh after coming from 2-5 down in the first set of their final match to win the first set 7-5, and clinching the trophy with a 6-4 win in the second set.
With these amazing back-to-back wins in national tournaments, the new national ranking expected to be out on Monday, 10 September, may see a return to the apex of Nigerian tennis for the youngster who has been tipped to be among the top 50 in the world.
Nigerian Tennis Live will keep our followers abreast with the details of the new national rankings as soon as they are released by the Nigeria Tennis Federation.