By May, 2024, it will be three years since Muhammed Jamiu Abdulhakeem started playing tennis but the youngster is already being touted as the next big thing from Ilorin, Kwara State.
The youngster who has been one of the revelations for his coach, Tosho, has continued to hug the headlines in Kwara State with the coach stating that he remains one of their future stars.
He was one of the players who participated at the Azimuth Shipping Lines Junior Tennis Championship in Lagos, and surely looked like he was ‘getting into the mix’ with other youngsters.
Although Abdulhakeem looks quiet, his use of the racquet state otherwise as the southpaw player packs some energy and tactical awareness in his tennis, a feature which is not so common for players of his age.
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“If you’ve watched Abdulhakeem play, you’ll be surprised by how much ability he has despite just starting tennis about three years ago,” the coach told Nigeria Tennis Live during a recent conversation.
“He is one of those players I can beat my chest about and say that there is a future tennis star in Ilorin, because he’s really that good,” Coach Tosho added.
The soft spoken player was inspired to play tennis after watching tennis legends and superstars like Rafa Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Serena and Venus Williams.
But he also has other reasons he started playing the game. According to him: “The fact it requires using every part of your body to play is fascinating, and that surely just helps me as a sports person, to stay fit at all times.”
The JSS1 student who knows his challenges also stated that he has a primary goal in tennis and the goal “is to win every game I play. My serves give me a lot of problems but I’ve been working on it for some time now”.
Nigerians may have to be on the look out for Abdulhakeem who is now set to be the poster boy for junior tennis in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital.
Nigeria Tennis Live will continue to keep tabs on the player and report his development to our teeming readers and followers.
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