One of the reasons tennis is unpopular in Nigeria is the
fact that it is relatively expensive and is perceived by many as a sport for
the elites. In spite of this misconception and many other challenges, Nigerian
players have been able to rise to the challenge against their more marketable
foreign counterparts, especially during international competitions. The most
popular tennis tourney Africa, the Governor’s Cup Lagos Tennis Championship,
which will hold in about two months’ time, has been a veritable platform for
aspiring Nigerian players to showcase their talents against more exposed
players from across the globe.
Below is a look at some of Nigeria’s finest tennis players
and how they could take African tennis by surprise in the nearest future:
Sarah Adegoke
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| Sarah Adegoke |
She is barely eighteen years but already had the physique of
a woman in her mid-twenties. Adegoke shot into limelight at the Central Bank of
Nigeria, CBN Open in 2012 when she was being referred to as a ‘giant killer’
with the way she brushed her opponents aside. Having played and won a lot of
tournaments in the country and having represented Nigeria at various championships
outside the country, Adegoke has showed anyone who cared to know that she was
ready to take Nigerian tennis by storm as she raced to the final of the Women’s
Singles at the 2012 CBN Open. She, however, succumbed to the superior fire
power of former Nigeria’s number one female player, Abinu Fatimah, in a keenly
contested grand finale. Since then, there has been no looking back for Sarah.
She won the Dala Hard Court tournament a year after and only lost by the
whiskers to Christie Agugbom at the 2014 CBN Open final. “Dad forced me to play
tennis,” she recalls. “But I’m enjoying it now. “I only try to enjoy my game
and don’t think of my opponent. But I get better when I’m losing because I get
angry and tend to hit the long, fast balls harder then,” she told newsmen
during an interview. Adegoke is currently Nigeria’s number one female tennis
player and she has not hidden her desire to keep hold of it for as long as
possible. She also won the inaugural Ekiti Governor’s Cup All Nigeria’s Tennis
Open that took place in June this year.
Clifford Enosoregbe
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| Clifford Enosoregbe |
Enosoregbe prides himself as the only Nigerian tennis player
with a ‘one-hand backhand’, similar to that of Stanilas Wawrinka, Roger
Federer, et al. The former Holland-based Nigerian star is vastly experienced
and is widely travelled. He won a Doubles Medal with Onyeka Mbanu at the 2011
All Africa Games in Maputo, Mozambique, as a relatively unknown player, but
that was just the beginning for him. Shortly after his heroic in Maputo,
Enosoregbe started to defeat established players like Abdul-mumuni Babalola,
Shehu Lawal, among others, and ended the year 2013 as Nigeria’s number one male
tennis player. Apart from the respect he commands from his colleagues, he wears
a smile whenever he is not playing. “I know my abilities and I believe that I
have not gotten there yet. But I’ll keep trying my best. “Tennis is not really
appreciated in Nigeria, that’s our biggest bane. However, I will be travelling outside
the country to play a couple of tournaments before we have another national
tournament,” he told naij.com reporter recently. Enosoregbe was among the
selected ‘top 500 aspiring tennis players in the world’ after he gave Indian
player, Jeevan, a run for his money during the Governor’s Cup late last year.
He was Nigeria’s best player at the tournament and complemented that effort by
winning the Dala Hard Court Tourney in Kano weeks later.
Sylvester Emmanuel
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| Sylvester Emmanuel |
Nicknamed ‘Major’ by his fans and friends, Emmanuel is
another player who is ready to shake African tennis. At the age of 16, he had
already travelled to more countries than some of his more experienced
colleagues. Emmanuel played his first senior tournament last year and created
upsets at the event where many began to take note of his predatory talents.
Early this year, he was responsible for the scalp of West African opponents at
the African Junior Tennis Championship that took place in Abuja, where Emmanuel
showed great composure to see off strong opposition from Benin Republic and
subsequently represent West Africa in Morocco a few months later. The Nigerian
prodigy returned from the tournament where he lost out in the Quarter finals
only to win the inaugural Mid Western Oil & Gas tournament in Lagos.
Emmanuel’s great prowess did not go unnoticed as he was subsequently given a
scholarship by the International Tennis Federation, ITF, to play in Switzerland
(where he is presently) and was subsequently called up to represent Nigeria at
the World Team Cup which will start in Cairo, Egypt on 8 September, 2014. Since
his emergence, Emmanuel has won every junior tournament in the country.
Mary-Love Edwards
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| Mary-Love Edwards |
Edwards has a look
which betrays her ability on the tennis court but the confidence she exhibits
shows that size doesn’t matter when it comes to action. The young girl, barely
eight, has been to every tennis tournament in the country and was recently
referred to as a “Phenomenal” player by a South African website due to her
performances. Edwards was invited to Australia this year based on her
performance and was also in South Africa last year on a training tour. She
plays in categories above her age because her coach feels she is too good for
those younger categories. True to the coach’s observations and recommendations,
Edwards has only lost in the final of U-16 rated matches to opponents twice as
huge as she is. “I’m never scared of anybody whenever I get into the court,”
the petite player told journalists recently. With American star, Serena
Williams as her role model, Edwards is aiming for the top and believes that in
the next four years, “I’ll be able to defeat anybody from anywhere”. For
Nigeria to return to the days on Ndukar Odizor, Late Thompson Onibokun,
Jonathan Igbinovia, among others, the aforementioned Nigerian talents have to
be nurtured by tennis authorities in the country to ensure that they reach the
heights of their abilities.
Culled from Naij
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