Despite reaching his first ever J100 Singles final on clay and claiming his first J100 Doubles on clay, David Ekpenyong has his biggest test ahead of him.
The Nigerian teenage tennis player is currently in Mexico, where he is starring in the J300 Zapopan event, getting a direct slot into the main draw of the event.
In his first ever outing in the J300 event, the African number seven ranked junior tennis player already won against a formidable opponent, Andres Delgadillo from Mexico, winning 6-3, 6-2.
Nigeria Tennis Live checks revealed that this win was a much improved performance by the Nigerian number one male tennis player who had to dig deep to overcome the same opponent in the quarterfinal of the J100 event.
The match which ended in three sets – 6-7, 7-5, 6-2 – in favour of Ekpenyong was a clear indication that the world number 253 ranked Mexican player is not a push over.
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However, in their second meeting, the Nigerian came out tops unscathed, but he will now have to repeat the same performance when he faces Reda Bennani in the second round.
Bennani, a Moroccan player, is ranked 45 in the world and already played the Junior Roland Garros championship this year, lost in a J300 final as well as reaching the third round of a J500 competition in Milan, Italy.
Despite this, though, Nigeria’s Ekpenyong seems like the best opponent to stop the African number one junior male tennis player in his quest to go further in the competition as he had been stopped in previous matches by lower ranked players.
Armed with his experience from his first big test on clay, the 17-year-old is expected to shock his opponent and earn his second point in his toughest encounter yet, in his fledgling career.
Nigeria Tennis Live will keep tabs on the Nigerian player as he keeps putting Nigeria’s name on the tennis map globally.