As the date of the 2017 Governor’s Cup Lagos Tennis Championship gets closer, Nigerian players have started speaking up on their chances of having a splendid performance in the ITF pro circuit.
Nigerian Tennis Live findings revealed that over 500 players have indicated their interest in participating in the 17th edition of the $25,000 ITF- approved event, and the Nigerian players who will fancy their chances, have started showing seriousness in winning the tournament.
In an exclusive chat with our correspondent from his base in the United States, Sadiq Tswako, one of the Nigerian tennis players schooling and playing college tennis abroad, noted with every sense of responsibility, that even though he was coming to participate in the tournament, he sees only one Nigerian player winning it; Sylvester Emmanuel.
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| A picture of Team Nigeria at the 2017 Davis Cup Team Championship. |
Tswako, who once advised his Nigerian counterparts to not dwell on their talents alone, stated emphatically, that even though many Nigerians (including himself) would be attempting to win, only the Spain-based Sylvester looks capable of getting something out of the tournament.
He noted that Major, as Sylvester is fondly called, has improved on his game and has garnered a lot of experience while playing outside the country, therefore he expects him to pose a lot of threats to the top players who would be in the country for the tournament.
When asked if he thinks any Nigerian player can win the 2017 edition of the tournament, Tswako said: “To be very honest, its been a while since I watched our players participate in a tournament.
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| Tswako believes that only Sylvester Emmanuel has the required exposure to win the ITF Futures in Nigeria. |
“But then, I also know that it takes a lot to win Futures which I am yet to see in most of them except for Major. He’s been putting in a lot of work lately and he’s getting the required experience to compete at the very top.”
Meanwhile, tickets for this year’s tournament are already on sale online and have been selling since since Wednesday, 20 September, at Ariya Tickets (https://www.ariiyatickets.com/new/event-detail.php?eid=500) and Naija Tickets Shop ( http://naijaticketshop.com/details.php?id=2218).