Last year’s men and women’s champions of the maiden Lagos Tennis Cup, Uche Oparaoji and Marylove Edwards, defended their titles in the second edition of the championship rounded off at the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club, Onikan over the weekend.
The national tournament meant for Top 8 ranked men and women’s players in Nigeria, ended on an enthralling note as the Abuja-based duo of Oparaoji and Peter Lawal served up a slugfest that lasted four hours and 20 minutes, and included a third set tiebreak before Oparaoji finally put Lawal to the sword 4-6, 7-5, 7-6(8).
It was easily the longest game in the short history of the Lagos Tennis Cup, and almost quadruple the 1hr 15 minutes of last year’s final.
The day’s proceedings had started at 1.30pm with the women’s final which was a rematch between Edwards and rising star Oiza Yakubu, following their three-set group stage thriller in which the latter shocked the top seed in the first set before losing the following two sets.
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This time Edwards was more prepared for the challenge as she ruthlessly blew past Yakubu 6-1, 6-1 to claim her second straight title and, like the men’s champion, earn half-a-million-naira in prize money. Her opponent got N250,000 but will take even more encouragement from seeing how much she has closed the gap on the frontrunners.
Up next for the top players is the second edition of the Abuja Tennis Cup.
Caption: Lagos Lawn Tennis Club’s President Barrister Kolade Olaketunbi presenting the trophy Lagos Tennis Cup men’s champion, Uche Oparaoji.