Oyinlomo Quadre hit top form in good time but it was not enough to overcome a spirited Dimitra Pavlou from Greee in their quarterfinal match at the ongoing W15 Monastir event in Tunisia.
Quadre (WTA 1316) trailed for most part of the first set, as her opponent, the tournament’s number three seed, raced to a 5-0 lead in what was looking like a one-sided affair.
The Nigerian tennis superstar, however, began an unprecedented onslaught against the WTA 562 player as she twice held serve and broke the Greek player to take three games at a stretch in what was her first quarterfinal match since 2019.
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The former Nigerian number one player could not sustain the momentum, despite holding her opponent back for most parts of the end to the first set and succumbed to a 3-6 defeat.
In the second set, having discovered a new way to peg her opponent back, Quadre started on the front foot, taking a 4-1 lead before Pavlou also hit three wins on a bounce to tie the game at 4-4.
Quadre held serve, still, and took a deserved 5-4 lead but she could not sustain the tempo again, allowing her opponent back into the game and take it to 5-5 before taking a 6-5 lead again.
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The former Nigerian tennis wonderkid did have enough weapon in her arsenal to stop her opponent who held serve and tied the game again at 6-6 to take the second set to a tie break decider.
The Florida International University (FIU) student showed a spirited fight in the tiebreak as she held on saving match point after match point before surrendering the lead to her opponent in a 8-10 game.
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She still has a chance to reach the finals in the Doubles event when she takes to court alongside Manal Ennaciri from Morocco in their semifinal match against the pair of Pavlou and Leyla Nilufer Elmas from Tunisia.
Nigeria Tennis Live will keep tabs on Quadre in her subsequent matches as she prepares to return to school for the new tennis season.