In January, 2020, 11-year-old Peter Ubiebi was playing at the Azimuth Shipping Lines Limited Junior Tennis Championship for the first time, but he didn’t have a good experience.
“Daddy, they are doing me ojoro. The umpire is doing me ojoro,” an angry and disappointed Peter said with tears in his eyes after losing the match on the day.
His dad, highly-respected and vast junior tennis coach, Abel Ubiebi, was on hand to listen to his son’s outburst, and assured him that if he does well during competitions, “nobody can do you ojoro”.
It was a memorable for the youngster who looked certainly determined to affirm his father’s words and ensure that nobody does him ‘ojoro’ again.
About two years later, Peter, now looking more mature and ferocious with his serves and overall play, participated at the same competition, and this time around, shone like a star in one of his matches.
“Na Abel pikin be that? See as him dey serve,” one of the spectators at the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club venue of the competition spoke glowingly in pidgin while watching the youngster play.
He lost out in the quarterfinals that year to another tough player in Oozen Ayoola in a match where he was extremely emotional, but he had done enough to convince the spectators that he was not a pushover.
Many tennis followers who watched him reached out to counsel him on his temperament on the court, especially when things are not going according to plan.
And the 2023 edition of the same competition just about showed a more consistent and mature player who obviously took to the advice of the people around him, and performed even better.
With a broad smile on his face, he told Nigeria Tennis Live correspondent after his semifinal match against Praise David Crown, that “I beat him 6-0, 6-2”.
Unfortunately, the JSS1 student of Triple Crown College played the final match with a slight injury and lost but he still remained gracious in defeat.
Unlike in previous competitions, the young lord is now grown and took his defeat in good faith.
Asked what happened during the match, Peter said: “I was injured, but I didn’t want to scratch. I wanted to finish my match.”
What a monstrous mentality from a budding youngster who looks set to become one of Nigeria’s unbeatable tennis champions in the nearest future.