Governor’s Cup Lagos Tennis: Nigeria’s Emmanuel Upsets America’s Reed In First Round

Nigerian players taking part in the 15th Governor’s Cup Lagos Tennis Championship began their quest for honours with victories in the first round of the competition with Sylvester Emmanuel making the headlines following his 7-6(3), 6-3 win over American Anderson Reed at the Lord Rummen Centre Court of the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club, Onikan.

Emmanuel, a wild card entrant, clinched the men’s singles title at the Dala Hard Court Championship two weeks ago and he seems to have saved his best for the Governor’s Cup as he could only watch his Team Kalotari managed a third place finish at the NCC Team Tennis Final on Saturday.

An elated Emmanuel said after the match that he was not surprised with the victory over Reed who is ranked 1488 in the world, adding that hardwork and experience he gained while traveling around the world to play in different circuits won the match for him.

“I feel great winning this match. I went into the match with a great confidence that I would win. This is because I played more ATP tournaments than Reed. He is a good player but I’m better than him,” said Emmanuel, who in the past few months had played in ATP ranked competitions in the USA, Togo and Benin Republic.

The Nigerian star, however, said that this year’s Governor’s Cup will be different for the local players as they are battle ready to give their foreign counterparts a good run for their money.

Other Nigerians who made a headway in the first round of the men’s singles are Mohammed Mohammed, who defeated Ghana’s Bernard Dugbah 4-6, 5-3, 5-3, while Albert Bikom also edged Swiss Jessy Kalambay 5-7, 6-4, 7-5, all in the men’s singles.

Some Nigerian ladies won their respective matches of the first round, moving on to the second round. Ronke Akingbade beat compatriot Christie Nwankwo 4-6, 6-2, 6-1, while Blessing Samuel lost to Osariemen Airhumwunde 6-4, 6-2.

Men singles final 2014
photo credit; governorscuplagostennis.com

The duo of Mohammed Mohammed and Joseph Imeh beat the pair of Alexei Filenkov of Russia and Aldin Setkic of Bosnia to progress to the second round.

It was not a smooth sailing for Nigeria as Aminat Quadri lost 6-0, 6-0 to Frenchwoman Tessah Andrianoafitrimo while Kyra Shroff of India also crushed Nigeria’s Rita Obasigie 6-0, 6-0 in the women’s singles.

In other results, Tadeja Majeric of Slovakia beat Eden D’Oliveira of USA 60-3, 6-1. Ester Masuri of Israel defeated Olena Kyrpot of Ukraine 6-0, 6-3. Germany’s Andiyo Inwang, who was given a wildcard was beaten by Mara Schmidt of USA in straight set of 6-1, 6-3.

Zimbabwe’s Valeria Bhumu beat Usina Sumail of India 6-1, 6-2, while Alexandria Riley of the USA defeated Nina Kolar of Slovakia 5-3, 6-0 all in the women’s singles.

2015 Governor’s cup Lagos Tennis serves off….Nigeria gets large Wild card slots

The 15th Governor’s Cup Lagos Tennis Championship will formally serve off on Monday at the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club, Onikan, with no fewer than 20 matches on the card in the Men and Women singles main draw.

As hosts, Nigeria, understandably was given the privilege of having the largest number of Wild Card slots as no fewer than eight of the country’s players move into the main draw due to the fact that precious few of its players are in the ATP and WTA rankings.

Leading the nation’s quest for glory in the $80,000 prize-money tournament is Moses Micheal, the reigning champion, who took advantage of the abridged version held last year due to the Ebola virus scourge which restricted participating players to Africa.

The Trophy Governor’s Cup Lagos Tennis Championship
photo credit; governorscuplagostennis.com

Micheal is the highest-ranked Nigerian player in the ATP and after helping Tombim to win the NCC Team Tennis title on Saturday, he is expected to have his hands full as players from Europe, Asia and The Americas will all be featuring this time around.

Another player that will be on the spotlight is Melissa Ifidzhen, the Russian-Nigerian player who has been making waves both home and abroad.

The 18-year-old took Nigerian tennis by storm by winning this year’s Central Bank of Nigerian Open women’s singles, Women’s double and the mixed double titles.

The former Russian junior champion also comes into the championship in good form as she ended up as women’s doubles finalist at the ITF Circuit in Egypt two weeks ago. She has also won two women singles titles in Russia prior to her remarkable display in Egypt.

“I’m hoping for another memorable experience in Nigeria. The first time I played here was very successful and I’m looking forward to a good tournament. Hopefully, I will get my first WTA singles points right here in Nigeria,” she said after a training session on Saturday.

Melissa Ifidzhen,

Meanwhile, the LOC has urged tennis fans to turn out en masse and fill the stands stating that the Governor’s Cup is gradually becoming synonymous with renowned international tournaments in tennis.

Tournament Coordinator, Prince ‘Wale Oladunjoye, pointed that the next generation of world stars will be coming from the tournament; a fact he highlighted with India’s Sania Mirza, the 2004 champion, who is the current Wimbledon and US Open doubles title holder.

Bosnia and Herzegovina player, Aldin Setkic is the highest ranked star in this year’s tournament. He is ranked number 231, while French player, Sherazad Reix is leading the female player. She is ranked number 247 in the world.
Players from more than 50 countries will be taking part in the double-phase fortnight-long tournament.