Naija Tennis Special had reported that the match was planned as part of activities to send MaryLove forth to the United States where she would be training at the Nick Bolleteri Tennis Academy for a minimum of four years.
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| MaryLove poses with Gabriel before the match. |
The female national U-14 Champion met a very tough opposition in Inyang, who is also the male national U-12 champion as the pair slugged it out in an entertaining encounter at the tennis club.
But MaryLove edged out Inyang to prove her superiority and win in two straight sets of 6-3, 6-2; a scoreline which does not reflect how close the match was.
Speaking after the match, the young Inyang noted that he was doing so many things wrongly, “like hitting the ball straight at her and she was hitting the balls away from me.
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| MaryLove and Gabriel pose with their parents ahead of the exhibition match. |
“I was just playing straight at her.”
He has now promised to defeat the newly-crowned Sports Personality of the year if a rematch was organized because he now knows her weakness.
“I think I can defeat her when next we play. I think I know her weaknesses now.
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| I now know her weakness, Gabriel said after the match. |
“She knows where to place the ball. She made a lot of double faults,” the back-back champion in the United States further observed.
He also gave her a word of advice ahead of her trip to the United States. Inyang said: “My advice to her is to remain focused as she goes to the United States.”