₦airaland Forum

Meet Nduka Odizor, the greatest Nigerian tennis player of all time.

He reached ATP 52 in the Singles and 20 in the Doubles in 1984.

He remains the only Nigerian to have played in the Main Draw of all Grand Slams.

In 1983, the ‘Duke’ as he is fondly called, famously defeated former no. 1 Guillermo Vilas at Wimbledon, a development that put Nigeria in the eyes of the world.

He started as a ball boy in Lagos but his fame started when he started beating older players in Nigeria before leaving for the US.

The Duke also schooled in Benin City - Nigeria at the time.

He is currently based in the United States, but visits Nigeria from time to time, and was present in Lagos when Nigeria defeated Uzbekistan to gain promotion to the Davis Cup World Group II.

Odizor’s son played tennis for a while before choosing to not go professional.

I have played Nduka at Wimbledon in 85’!
Strong serve volley player !

WHAT HAPPENED NEXT ANSWER ⏬

A cheeky under arm serve from Nduka Odizor. 🤣#WhatHappensNext pic.twitter.com/0oCQAhCTCh

— Question of Sport (@QuestionofSport) December 19, 2018

ThisDAY

From Maroko Backstreet to Wimbledon, US Open: The Story of One Time Tennis Ball Boy

Growing up in an area of Lagos known as Maroko and picking tennis balls at the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club at Onikan had positive effects on him. Till date, Nduka Odizor is the only person in the world to have the rare privilege
of doing virtually everything.

From Benin to the US Via Lagos...

Grew up in Lagos and attended Edward Blyden Primarv School Okesuna, Lagos. I started secondary school at the famous New Era College, Benin, established by General
Samuel Ogbemudia (rtd). It was a model school for athletes.

Typically, in Nigeria, people tend to disrupt plans that were perfectly laid because Ogbemudia made the plan very well but immedi ately he left office it became school for everybody. When I look back, the school was functional, it was world class. I say world class because I live overseas. It was during my time that about four students from my school left to join the Green Eagles namely Mike Odu, Oyiwe the goalkeeper, I have forgotten others' names but I know them by face. Of course you had me in tennis and others who played for Nigeria including Friday Otabor, Phillip Nwajei, Orlando Amenayi and Solomon Ona. We also had swimmers and track and field athletes in the school.

The point I am making is that whenever things are going well, most Nigerians tend to disrupt it. What they want to do is put their own people and enjoy the benefit of that plan even when they are not qualified, That was what killed the school.

I did not finish my secondary school in Nigeria. I went to St. Thomas High School in Houston, Texas because I left after my Class 2 (JS2) in Nigeria.

I have been living in Houston United States for 40 years now. I also attended University of Houston. studied Business Marketing and Fi-
nance,"

Choosing Between Engineering and Professional Tennis


"I was fascinated with engineering, In real lfe people wish for something but the Bible says nobody goes to war without counting the cost. Nobody starts to build a house without knowing how much it will cost. I wanted to be an engineer but did not think about the cost of the variable. I wanted to be an engineer because I heard my parents talk about engineering, In Nigeria, people say I want to be rich but they do not kow the cost.

There is a cost to being successtul and being rich. When I got to the university, I changed my major from engineering to Astro Physics. I loved physics but since it was a scholarship I could not play tennis and go to the special class for physics which was between 2 and 5 o'clock when tennis practice starts. I had to change my major to Business and Finance. In scholarship, if I do not play they would kick me out.I finally graduated in 1981.

Going to America and Learning New Things in Tennis.

"The story is really philosophical in the sense that there is a Christian saying that everybody wants to go to heaven but nobody wants to die. I wanted to play tennis because I was good at it.

I started playing for the national team when I was under the age of 16. I was one of those child prodigies. I played in Europe for Nigeria. If you count well, I played for Nigeria for 22 years.

When I started playing tennis in Nigeria I was gifted because I was a good athlete. But I saw that there was more money for me in tennis. When I was playing small tournaments I was winning about N20, 00 which at that time was one Naira to a Dollar and you are talking about somebody who is 16 or 17 years of age earning that amount. But in soccer, I realised that if I played half of the time, the coaches would
not pay the players. I did not want that headache, so I stopped and decided to concentrate on tennis.

In track and field it was similar but much tribal. They wanted so many people to come from particular tribes and I did not like that. In tennis, what I do is what I get.

I would not say I was really good till I got to the United States. I was just pretending like I knew it. By African standards I was good. I did not know the geometry of the tennis courts, side,
speeds, temperaments, psychology and all of it. Those were the things I learnt when I went to America.

In Nigėria, when the guy hits the ball you just hit it back. That was how they taught us. If the guy hits it hard you hit it harder, if he hits it 10 times you hit it 11 times. But the way you can make the guy not hit it, you force him to make mistakes, these I learnt when I got to America.

Odyssey Through All England Club and Wimbledon. . .

"I think people forget that I first played Junior Wimbledon Tennis in 1975 and got the main rounds, I was the only Nigerian who ever played in junior Wimbledon and did well. There was one before me and none after. I said to myself then that what I have done in the juniors I could also do in the seniors.



I Never Wanted to Play Professional Tennis, School Was My Target



My coach then in Nigeria was Dotimi Egbuson from the then Bendel State. But the bottomline is that people also forgot that I also won my first professional tournament in America in 1976 as a senior in high school which is the equivalent of the SS3. I was trying to win. I wanted to practise when somebody called my attention to this
tournament. I went and won it. That was when I thought that maybe I had an idea of this profession because I never ever wanted to play professional tennis. I did not have anybody to emulate in Nigeria. It was after that they said in the US that I was good and the universities started coming after me. I also won the First Major University Tournament in my first year in the university, I did all that when I did not know I was really good.

You must also remember that my set then in the university was John McEnroe, Tim Mayote and
Peter Fleming, The university is the breeding ground which is what I am trying to do here
in Nigeria with Coach Babatunde Abe.

Many people in Nigeria and around the world,
including myself, see things and think it is greener on the other side of the fence.'They do not understand that when you get to the other side you have to work to keep the grass greener. I never thought I could play tennis although I
knew I was good. I did not think it was achievable. That was the main reason most
Nigerian tennis players did not succeed, Whenever those white guys come to play them they tell themselves 'oyinbo man don -come. I cannot beat him.'"

He said that was the mentality that most Nigerians had and that mental siege has prevented many of them from achieving their dream and reaching their full potentials.

"I remember asking myself how much have I won, maybe 300 US Dollars and I want to collect it and go. I was of the opinion that it will be nice to catch more monkeys. That mentality has been with me till now. When I do business. people will say you cannot do this but I wil say I will try it. If I can, I have tried. It does not hurt to try. I also remember a conversation with Awopegba, Onibokun, Ajayi and David Imonite, Tony Momoh and Sadiq Abdulahi when in their mind they said they cannot win and I won.

I equally remember the first time I was really indigent. It was in my spirit about somebody quitting because he thought other guy was 'Oyinbo'. That was in 1973 when Nigeria hosted the All Africa Games at the National stadium, Surulere.I trekked from the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club, Onikan, because the money with me was not enough. Should I enter a bus and not eat or be able to watch tennis and be able to buy Akara (bean cake)? I chose to trek because I was going to be there all day and eat.

Another period was when Thompson Onibokun played one Istiphanus of Ethiopia. He lost because the opponent was light skinned. I was very upset because he could have beaten
the guy. I was a little boy but I did not know the magnitude.

I went to school in Benin and every year they had the Ogbe Hard Court and there were Onibokun, Awopegba, Yemis Allan and Kehinde Ajayi who
were the four main guys. I was given an unenviable position of being a ball boy when they got to the quarter finals. I was not happy because I thought I was good enough playing and not picking balls. When you look back now, I was happy watching all the intrigues and the dymanics I am glad that I
đid that."

Houston Days and $100k Contract..

"When I got to the University of Houston, I did very well and wanted to turn professional after my first year in school but my foster parents refused and said the agreement they had with me when I first came is that I must finish school. "It does not matter what is going to happen, you must finish University,' In my last year in the university, I became the number one player in the Doubles and I was the Number 3 in the Singles behind John Mcenroe

naptu2:
From when I became interested to when I became uninterested.

(I bet that I'm going to forget some names. I'll be back tomorrow morning to post a revised list if I remember any more names).


Men

Bjorn Borg - John McEnroe (Jimmy Connors, Yannick Noah, Guillermo Vilas, Tony Roche, etc).



Ivan Lendl - Boris Becker (Stefan Edberg, Matts Wilander, Pat Cash, Jim Courier, Guy Forget, Henri Leconte, etc).



Pete Sampras - Andre Agassi (Thomas Muster, Goran Ivanisevic, Michael Chang, Todd Woodbridge, Mark Woodforde [The Woodies], Patrick Rafter, Michael Stich, Karel Novacek, Byron Black [African champion], Wayne Black, Younes El Aynaoui [another African champion], Hicham Arazi, Wayne Ferreira, Leander Paes, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Marat Safin, Andrei Olhovskiy, Tod Martin, Richard Krajicek, Paul Haarhuis, Tim Henman, Greg Rusedski, Lleyton Hewitt, Carlos Moya, Gustavo Kuertn, Marcelo Rios, etc).


Roger Federer - Rafael Nadal (Novak Djokovic, David Nalbandion, Andy Murray, Andy Roddick, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Juan Carlos Ferrero, etc).




Women


Martina Navratilova - Chris Evert (Pam Shriver, Tracy Austin, Zina Garrison [ ], Helena Sukova, etc).



Steffi Graf - Monica Seles (Gabriella Sabatini [ ], Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, Jennifer Capriati, Kimiko Date, Mary Pierce, Mary Jo Fernandez, Gigi Fernandez, Lindsay Davenport, Anke Huber, Conchita Martinez, Cara Black [African champion], Magdalena Maleeva, Amy Frazier, Chanda Rubin, etc).


Martina Hingis - Venus Williams (Justine Henin, Kim Clijsters, Amelie Mauresmo, etc)


Serena Williams - Maria Sharapova (Caroline Wozniaki, Victoria Azarenka, Ana Ivanovic, Jelena Jankovic, etc).

naptu2:
It's almost perfect! I found articles for all but two of the rivalries that I referred to.

There's no article for the Ivan Lendl - Boris Becker rivalry that I referred to. Instead there's an article for a rivalry between Becker - Edberg.


There's also no article for the Serena Williams - Maria Sharapova rivalry. Instead there's an article for the Williams sisters - Martina Hingis rivalry.



Women

Martina Navratilova vs Chris Evert
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evert%E2%80%93Navratilova_rivalry

Steffi Graf vs Monica Seles
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graf%E2%80%93Seles_rivalry

Martina Hingis vs Venus Williams
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hingis%E2%80%93V._Williams_rivalry

Serena Williams vs Maria Sharapova
?


Men

Bjorn Borg vs John McEnroe
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borg%E2%80%93McEnroe_rivalry

Ivan Lendl vs Boris Becker
?


Pete Sampras vs Andre Agassi
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agassi%E2%80%93Sampras_rivalry


Roger Federer vs Rafael Nadal
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federer%E2%80%93Nadal_rivalry

naptu2:
Man! I'm old! Look at how old they look in this video! Look at the headband man!

McEnroe and Borg say farewell to Federer.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grmuTeGZxFQ

naptu2:
Tennis was big business in Nigeria from the 1950s to the mid-1990s. Stars came from all over the world to play in tournaments in Nigeria. People like Thomas Muster, Jacob Hlasek, Paul Haarhuis and of course Arthur Ashe, played at the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club at one point or the other. We had great tournaments with considerable prizes, like the following big three tournaments:


Lord Rumens Tennis Classics:
Prize = $75,000. Venue = Lagos Lawn Tennis Club.

Chief Olatunji Ajisomo Alabi (aka Lord Rumens) was a multi-millionaire who served as president of the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club from 1966 – 1975. He led other millionaires like his cousin, Sir Mobolaji Bank-Anthony, his nephew Chief Molade Okoya-Thomas, Chief Raheem Adejumo, etc, to invest heavily in tennis, particularly in the LLTC. The centre court at the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club was named after Lord Rumens after his death in 1998.

The Lord Rumens Classics was the biggest tennis tournament in Nigeria in the 1970s, ‘80s and ‘90s. It was part of the ATP Tour (the ATP called it “The Lagos Classics” or “The Lagos Open” ). Lots of foreigners played in the tournament in order to gain ATP ranking points. It offered very good prize money, between $60,000-$75,000 in the 1970s and ‘80s and this attracted stars from around the world like Karel Nováček , Thomas Muster, Jacob Hlasek, Paul Haarhuis, Arthur Ashe, Dick Stockton, etc. Chief Molade Okoya-Thomas funded the tournament after the death of Lord Rumens in 1998.

The Lagos Lawn Tennis Club originally had grass courts, but they were converted to clay courts in the 1970s and then to hard courts (concrete) in the late 1980s. A new centre court was also built for the 1976 tournament.

The Lord Rumens centre court at the LLTC




Ogbe Hard Court
Prize = $50,000. Venue = Ogbe Stadium, Benin.

Brigadier General Samuel Ogbemudia was the sports loving governor of the Mid-West State from 1967-1975. He built Ogbe Stadium (now Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium), set up the College of Physical Education, Afuze (to train coaches and PE teachers) and started the Ogbe Hard Court tournament in 1971. It was also during his tenure that Bendel Insurance was formed and the Mid-West/Bendel State dominated sports in Nigeria.

The Ogbe Hard Court tournament was part of the ATP Challenger Tour. It was sponsored by the Bendel State Government, by Pepsi/7up (in the 1970s) and by Guinness in the 1990s. It attracted players from all over the world who came to acquire ATP ranking points and also for the $50,000 cash prize.



Dala Clay Court
Prize = $50,000. Venue = Kano Tennis Club

Dala Clay Court tournament was started in 1980 and it quickly eclipsed the Kaduna Clay Court Tournament to become one of the big three tennis tournaments in Nigeria. It was sponsored by Aminu Dantata, Isyaku Rabiu, etc (and is now sponsored by Aminu Dantata’s grand-nephew, Aliko Dangote).




There were several other tennis tournaments in Nigeria in the 1980s, such as the following

Kaduna Clay Court Tournament. Prize = $25,000). Venue = Kaduna Club.

Premier Hard Court Enugu. Prize = $25,000. Venue = Enugu Sports Club.

Ogun Green Court. Prize = $25,000. Venue = Abeokuta Sports Club.

John Player Classics. Prize = $25,000. Venue = Lagos Country Club, Ikeja.

Nuel Ojei Classics. Venue = Ikoyi Club.


Nigerian tennis stars

Nigeria had so many tennis stars (some of whom were personal friends of mine) who won ATP tournaments all over the world. They included:

1950s and ‘60s: Walter Obianwu, Herbert Oranye, etc.

1960s and ‘70s: Patrick Obi, Lawrence Awopegba, Thompson Onibokun, Yemi Allen, Kehinde Ajayi, etc. and among the women there was Elizabeth Ekong.

1980s: Nduka “The Duke” Odizor (who got to the 4th round at Wimbledon in 1983 and was ranked number 52 in the world in 1984 and number 20 in the doubles. He won 28 titles overall, including in Taipei, Lagos, Thessaloniki, Monterey, Tokyo, Forest hills in New York City, Benin City, etc), David Imonitie, Sadiq Abdulahi, Tony Mmoh, Yakubu Suleiman, Chike and Emeka Obianwu, etc. We had such great female tennis players like Veronica Oyibokia, Nosa Imafidon, Rolake Olagbegi, Nwando Obianwu, etc.


1990s: Katya and Tanya Okpala, Clara Udofia, Osaro Amadin, etc. We also had male tennis players like Sule Ladipo, Jonathan Igbinovia , Kyrian Nwokedi, Priye Hamilton, etc.

Nduka Odizor




Veronica Oyibokia receiving the top prize after winning the All Nigeria Open Tennis Championship in Lagos. In the middle is boxing aficionado, former host of Big Fight of The Decade and former president of the Nigerian Tennis Federation, Mr Chuka Momah.

bigpicture001:
I am a big fan of tennis


I can beat my chest and say, if any governor gives me ordinary 3billion, I will transform his state to a big playground of tennis playing youths from which big stars and employment will come from..

Tell ur governors

AustineE1:
Nice one from history,a living legend!!!

groovie:
You don't need 3billion first. You need to start and whatever the amount that is needed will come.

naptu2:
Nigerian Tennis Live @naijatennislive



https://x.com/i/status/2023318322171760823


Boris Becker @TheBorisBecker



https://x.com/i/status/2023358196619063616

naptu2:
Nduka Odizor speaking to Channels TV about Nigerian Tennis in 2016.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PRcDCN1ueA