The 13th edition of the Governor’s Cup Lagos Tennis Championship will serve off with the first leg starting this weekend at the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club, Onikan, Lagos.
According to the International Tennis Federation, ITF, the singles qualifying matches will be played between Saturday and Sunday, while players are expected to sign in by 5p.m. Nigerian time Friday. The matches of the Main Draws of the first leg will be played from 14-18 October, while Doubles Main Draws will hold from 15-17 October.
From the Local Organising Committee, LOC, headed by Chief Pius Akinyelure to Nigeria Tennis Federation, NTF, led Engineer Sani Ndanusa and the host, Lagos Lawn Tennis Club, the 13th edition of the Governor’s Cup is good to go. Tournament Director, prince Wale Oladunjoye said that all arrangement to ensure that both local and visiting players (from at least 50 countries of the world) enjoy the competition feel the hospitality of the government and good people of Lagos State have been put in place.
The management of the club has made provision for ITF standard lighting as matches are expected to be played to late evening between 6 and 7p.m. The newly introduced matches of the wheelchair tennis and the junior tennis in the U-10 and U-14 categories will hold in the morning.
The LOC is planning big for fans that will be on ground to watch exciting matches of the tournament with N800,000 worth of Gionee phones will be given out to fans. Beneficiaries of the phones will be decided through the number of days such fans visit the venue to watch matches. Lifemate Furnitures has promised N1.5 million worth of its products for the organisers which may be offered to the fans as incentives to increase spectators, not to forget the main sponsors, Etisalat Nigeria and FCMB Plc, which have also promised to make this year’s competition glamorous.
Meanwhile, President of the NTF, Ndanusa has disclosed that local players that will be given wild cards to play in the Main Draws of the first leg will be decided today.
In his words: “We have not given wild cards to players yet, but by Friday (today), we shall decide which players are qualified to get the wild cards.”
Former national coach of the NTF, Rotimi Akinloye, described the Governor’s Cup as an opportunity for Nigerian players to measure their performance and not the results, adding that the tournament will help the players get better and become stronger in future circuits.
“We have an array of stars who can hold their own against any opposition at this level. I see the Governor’s Cup as an opportunity for our players to measure their performance and not the result because in Nigeria, we like results a lot,” he said.
