Edis Nokic, an unseeded player from Sweden, has defeated Abayomi Phillips from Nigeria, the tournament’s number one seed in the second round of the Stavanger Junior ITF competition in Stavanger, Norway.
The Swede started the first set on a really strong note with his 6-4 win against the Nigerian junior tennis star in the first set.
But Phillips, determined to make a point against the European player in spite of the cold weather situation in Stavanger, got his beating back in the second set, and won the second set with the same scoreline.
The match was, at this point, delicately poised to go either way as both player began the battle for who would take the final set, especially since the Nigerian star, ranked 476 in the world, was trying to avoid a defeat.
Nokic would later have the last laugh as he took the final set which ended in a tie breaker, a pointer to the fact that both players fought for each point that came their way.
The match ended 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (4) in favour of the Swedish player, a result which would effectively send the Nigerian packing from the first leg of the Junior ITF Circuit in Stavanger, Norway.
Both Phillips and Emmanuel Jebutu will now hope to give good accounts of themselves when the second leg of the competition kicks off with the qualifying series this weekend.
Nigeria Tennis Live will keep tabs with the players’ performances in Norway as they continue with their tennis development.