Nigeria’s woeful outing at the ongoing First City Monument Bank (FCMB) Governor’s Cup Lagos Tennis Championship ended with a disappointing defeat to the last local player standing Clifford Enosoregbe by the best seeded player in the tournament, Hiroki Kondo from Japan.
Kondo saw off Enoseregbe 6-3,6-3 to proceed into the quarter-final of the tournament.
Enoseregbe got off to a promising start in the men’s singles fixtures 1 match played on Wednesday in front of a partisan Nigerian crowd at the Lagos Lawn Tennis Court, Onikan, breaking the Japanese’s serves early on but dropped tempo in the rallies.
“It is so sad even with the promises of the LOC and the sponsors to sponsor any player who performed very well to outside circuits, these players failed to up their game when it mattered most,” NTF head coach Ishicheli Benson said on Nigeria’s dismal performance in the championship.
In Day Three’s other results, Romania’s fifth seed, Christina Duru beat germany’s Jasmin Steinherr 6-1,6-4 while eighth seed Dalila Jakupovic of Slovakia saw off Russia’s Anna Morgina 6-3, 6-1 to reach the next round.
Austria’s Melaine Klaffner beat China’s Xi-Yao Wang 6-4, 6-2 while 4th seed Chanel Simmonds of South Africa defeated Michael Frlicka of Germany 6-1, 6-1. Germany’s Naomi Broady overcame Zarah Razafimahatratatra of Madagascar 6-2, 3-6, 6-1.
Among the two major upsets recorded last night, Nina bratchikova of Russia lost out of the tournament to Italy’s Giola Barbieri 6-4, 6-2 while Prathana Thombare of India saw off women singles third seed Eva Birnerova from Czech Republic 6-1, 6-2 to move into the quarter-finals scheduled for Wednesday.
