Nigerian tennis stars say year 2014 is eventful

The players who spoke to Shot! on their individual performances and the support from the Tennis Federation of Nigeria said they are looking forward to even more eventful year in 2015.
Clifford Ensoregbe who retained his top ranking in men tennis said he was happy with his performance in 2014 but will have to do more in 2015, in order to remain on top. He said even as it is an eventful year for the players, they are looking forward to even more tournaments in 2015.
“It was a great year for me personally because God saw me through a lot of challenges. I gave my best and by His grace, I was able to retain my number one position. I just hope that the federation will keep working hard for us to get more tournaments to play and improve on our world ranking.
Asked his happiest moment, the player who won both the NPA tournament in Abuja and Dala Hard Court said winning the tournament in Kano gave him the greatest satisfaction.
“I can tell you that retaining the Dala Hard Court tournament was my happiest moment. Apart from the attractive prize money, it is one of the biggest tournaments around. It was attended by big players who were determined to dethrone me but I triumphed so I was really happy,” he said.
His counterpart in the women category, 17 year old Sarah Adegoke said she is happy with her performance in the year. She said winning the Dala Hard Court few days after she lost the Governor’s Cup and NPA Open finals was consoling.
“Personally, I am satisfied with my performance. I ended the year as the number one female player so it is a fruitful year for me. I lost the Governor’s Cup and NPA Open finals but I stormed back in Kano to win the Dala Hard Court.
“All I can do is to thank God almighty and the Tennis Federation for giving us more tournaments this year. I just hope that the federation will sustain the tempo so that we continue to improve,” she said.
Blessing Samuel who surrendered her Dala Hard Court title in Kano to Adegoke said the year 2014 was not a fulfilling one for her as she was unable to play good tennis. She said losing three times to Anu Ayebusi was her most embarrassing moments.
“I did not perform well this year. My performance did not live up to expectations. Last year I played well and was seeded number one but this year, I failed to play well so I dropped out of the top position.
“The fact that I lost three times to the same player, Anu Ayebusi was most embarrassing. I only managed to beat him in the Masters in Lagos. So I am not really happy. However, I hope to bounce back in 2015. I will work harder to return to the top,” she said.
Samuel also thumbed up upcoming players for the upsets they caused in the year. She particularly hailed youngsters like Moses Michael, Emmanuel Sylvester and Osarome who gave the senior players a run for their money.
On his part, Port-Harcourt based Madueke Nonso said he thanked God for keeping him to the end of the year. He was particularly grateful to the federation for making as much as five tournaments available for the players to compete against one another.
He said his performance in the year was not satisfactory citing his quarter final loss in Kano to Sylvester Emmanuel as his most disappointing moment.
“I cannot pretend that all was well with me. I did not have a good season. The most disappointing moment for me was when I lost my quarter final match in Kano after I had seven points advantage. It was hard to believe that I lost that match.
“I just hope that in 2015, we would have even more tournaments to attend. This year was quite eventful for all of us”.
Speaking in the same vein, president of Nigeria Tennis Federation, Engineer Sani Ndanusa said the year was a huge success for Nigerian tennis.
He said the year 2014 is the year of turn around as he said at least ninety two per cent of the federation’s programmes were executed successfully. The former sports minister noted that the support from the press, the sports ministry and sponsors made it possible.
“For us in tennis, the year is a success as over 92 per cent of our programmes have been achieved. Our players have never had it so good. They were kept busy with local and, continental and international tournaments.
“In the course of the tournaments, there were so many upsets with the junior players upsetting the senior ones. That clearly showed that we are recording giant strides in terms of top to bottom development.
“It is also a thing of joy to note that we brought on board some big sponsors like Nigeria Ports Authority who came in with a bang. We have signed a four year deal for them to sponsor the NPA Open and some of our programmes”.
Ndanusa also assured that come 2015, Nigerian tennis players will be more visible in international competitions that would help enhance their ITF ratings. He said the federation is not resting on its oars as it is working on new tournaments.
“We are working on new tournaments with emphasis on schools tennis competitions, not leaving out wheel chair tennis. We shall give priority attention to these special tennis players. So I can assure you that year 2015 will be more eventful than 2014,” he assured.