One of the reasons tennis is unpopular in Nigeria is the fact that it is relatively expensive and is perceived by many as a sport for the elites. In spite of this misconception and many other challenges, Nigerian players have been able to rise to the challenge against their more marketable foreign counterparts, especially during international competitions. The most popular tennis tourney Africa, the Governor’s Cup Lagos Tennis Championship, which will hold in about two months’ time, has been a veritable platform for aspiring Nigerian players to showcase their talents against more exposed players from across the globe.

Below is a look at some of Nigeria’s finest tennis players and how they could take African tennis by surprise in the nearest future:


Sarah Adegoke
She is barely eighteen years but already had the physique of a woman in her mid-twenties. Adegoke shot into limelight at the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN Open in 2012 when she was being referred to as a ‘giant killer’ with the way she brushed her opponents aside. Having played and won a lot of tournaments in the country and having represented Nigeria at various championships outside the country, Adegoke has showed anyone who cared to know that she was ready to take Nigerian tennis by storm as she raced to the final of the Women’s Singles at the 2012 CBN Open. She, however, succumbed to the superior fire power of former Nigeria’s number one female player, Abinu Fatimah, in a keenly contested grand finale. Since then, there has been no looking back for Sarah. She won the Dala Hard Court tournament a year after and only lost by the whiskers to Christie Agugbom at the 2014 CBN Open final. “Dad forced me to play tennis,” she recalls. “But I’m enjoying it now. “I only try to enjoy my game and don’t think of my opponent. But I get better when I’m losing because I get angry and tend to hit the long, fast balls harder then,” she told newsmen during an interview. Adegoke is currently Nigeria’s number one female tennis player and she has not hidden her desire to keep hold of it for as long as possible. She also won the inaugural Ekiti Governor’s Cup All Nigeria’s Tennis Open that took place in June this year.

Clifford Enosoregbe
Enosoregbe prides himself as the only Nigerian tennis player with a ‘one-hand backhand’, similar to that of Stanilas Wawrinka, Roger Federer, et al. The former Holland-based Nigerian star is vastly experienced and is widely travelled. He won a Doubles Medal with Onyeka Mbanu at the 2011 All Africa Games in Maputo, Mozambique, as a relatively unknown player, but that was just the beginning for him. Shortly after his heroic in Maputo, Enosoregbe started to defeat established players like Abdul-mumuni Babalola, Shehu Lawal, among others, and ended the year 2013 as Nigeria’s number one male tennis player. Apart from the respect he commands from his colleagues, he wears a smile whenever he is not playing. “I know my abilities and I believe that I have not gotten there yet. But I’ll keep trying my best. “Tennis is not really appreciated in Nigeria, that’s our biggest bane. However, I will be travelling outside the country to play a couple of tournaments before we have another national tournament,” he told naij.com reporter recently. Enosoregbe was among the selected ‘top 500 aspiring tennis players in the world’ after he gave Indian player, Jeevan, a run for his money during the Governor’s Cup late last year. He was Nigeria’s best player at the tournament and complemented that effort by winning the Dala Hard Court Tourney in Kano weeks later.

Sylvester Emmanuel
Nicknamed ‘Major’ by his fans and friends, Emmanuel is another player who is ready to shake African tennis. At the age of 16, he had already travelled to more countries than some of his more experienced colleagues. Emmanuel played his first senior tournament last year and created upsets at the event where many began to take note of his predatory talents. Early this year, he was responsible for the scalp of West African opponents at the African Junior Tennis Championship that took place in Abuja, where Emmanuel showed great composure to see off strong opposition from Benin Republic and subsequently represent West Africa in Morocco a few months later. The Nigerian prodigy returned from the tournament where he lost out in the Quarter finals only to win the inaugural Mid Western Oil & Gas tournament in Lagos. Emmanuel’s great prowess did not go unnoticed as he was subsequently given a scholarship by the International Tennis Federation, ITF, to play in Switzerland (where he is presently) and was subsequently called up to represent Nigeria at the World Team Cup which will start in Cairo, Egypt on 8 September, 2014. Since his emergence, Emmanuel has won every junior tournament in the country.

Mary-Love Edwards
Edwards has a look which betrays her ability on the tennis court but the confidence she exhibits shows that size doesn’t matter when it comes to action. The young girl, barely eight, has been to every tennis tournament in the country and was recently referred to as a “Phenomenal” player by a South African website due to her performances. Edwards was invited to Australia this year based on her performance and was also in South Africa last year on a training tour. She plays in categories above her age because her coach feels she is too good for those younger categories. True to the coach’s observations and recommendations, Edwards has only lost in the final of U-16 rated matches to opponents twice as huge as she is. “I’m never scared of anybody whenever I get into the court,” the petite player told journalists recently. With American star, Serena Williams as her role model, Edwards is aiming for the top and believes that in the next four years, “I’ll be able to defeat anybody from anywhere”. For Nigeria to return to the days on Ndukar Odizor, Late Thompson Onibokun, Jonathan Igbinovia, among others, the aforementioned Nigerian talents have to be nurtured by tennis authorities in the country to ensure that they reach the heights of their abilities.

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