2016 Lagos Governor’s Tennis Cup begins as 8 Nigerian players bag wild cards

Eight Nigerian players have bagged wild cards for the 16th Governor's Cup Lagos Tennis Championship which serves off on Saturday, October 8 at the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club, Lagos.

The tournament will run till October 22.
 

The organisers of the tournament have increased the prize money to $100,000 from $80,000, which makes the tourney officially the ITF highest prize-money championship in Africa, Asia and South America.

Chairman of the LOC, Chief Pius Akinyelure, while speaking in Lagos at a media briefing said the increase in the prize money is a step towards raising the status of the tournament.

“This singular action ,the increase, has not only cemented Governor’s Cup Lagos Tennis  in the number one position in Futures Tournaments in  Africa, Asia and South America, it is also the final step towards the tournament’s upgrading to the Challenger Series. This level, with its attendant economic and commercial benefits gels into the future of Lagos as a Mega City. We will be moving from an ITF tournament to a Professional Tennis Association (PTA) tournament which is only a step away from the ultimate in tennis, the Tennis Open,” Akinyelure said.
 
Also speaking, president of the Nigeria Tennis Federation (NTF), Engineer Sani Ndanusa said the Governor’s Tennis Cup has become a household name and carnival to tennis lovers in Nigeria and the entire world.
 
Ndanusa, who was represented by the first vice-president of the NTF, Mr Yemi Owoseni,
commended Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode who sustained the sponsorship of the
tourney despite the recession in the country.
 
“Today, we are having six futures in our calendar which is likely to be around ten this time next year,” Ndanusa said.
 
In his remarks, Tournament Director, Prince Wale Oladunjoye revealed that it was challenging to attract sponsors due to recession in the country.
 
Meanwhile, only three Nigerian players made it to the second round of last year's Futures 4 of the men's singles, which was won by Antal Van Der Duim of The Netherlands as he defeated Zimbabwe's Takanyi Garangaga 6-3, 6-4.
 
The Nigerian trio of Sylvester Emmanuel lost to Fabio Reboul of France 6-2, 6-4, as Joseph Imeh Ubon lost to Garanganga 6-4, 6-2, while Umaru Balami was beaten by Antal Duim 6-2, 6-1.
 
Christian Paul, was Nigeria’s best performer at the 2015 men's singles Futures 3 as he reached the quarter-final before he lost 6-2, 6-1 to New Zealand’s Ben McLachlan.
 
Switzerland’s Conny Perrin clinched the women's singles Futures 4 title whe she dumped Tadeja Majeric of Slovakia 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 in the final.
 
Blessing Samuel emerged the only Nigerian who made it to the second round of the women's singles of Futures 4 before she lost to Tessah Andrianjaftrimo 6-0, 6-0.
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Caption: 

Christian Paul, the only Nigerian who made it to the quarter-final of the men's singles Futures 3 of the 2015 Lagos Governor's Tennis Cup.