Nonso Madueke won the CBN Senior National Open Tennis Championships’ male singles title on Saturday in Abuja after a stunning comeback against Henry Atseye in the final match.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Madueke, who was trailing his opponent after the first set, bounced back in the next two sets to claim the championships’ top prize.
After losing 2-6 in the first set, Madueke stormed back to win 7-6(10) in the second set, before Atseye retired injured at 0-2 down in the third set.
Tournament’s number one seed Atseye had come into the game with a lot of confidence after an energy-sapping 4-6, 7-6(6), 6-4 victory against Wilson Igbinovia in the semi-final.
The 18-year-old Igbinovia’s dream of a second championship win within the space of two weeks after winning the second edition of the DavNotch Open was cut short earlier on Saturday.
Tournament’s number four seed Madueke, on the hand, had quite an easy ride to the final as he dismissed unseeded Friday Gabriel 6-0 6-0 in the other semi-final encounter.
Atseye was still expected to dominate the game, in spite of the fatigue element, and he did not disappoint as he quickly went on the front foot, employing an aggressive approach in the first set to take it 6-2.
Madueke, however, shook off the early nerves and got his game back on track as he regained control in the second set to take it 7-6(10) after a long rally which dragged the game late into the night.
A physically-exhausted Atseye tried very hard to push himself to the limits and sustained a serious injury in the process.
It saw him retiring early in the third set to concede the game to Madueke.
“It was not an easy match, but I knew that as long as I kept on fighting, I was going to scale through.
“We both had to play two consecutive matches today and even though my opponent’s semi-final game was quite tougher than mine, I knew that I couldn’t rest on my oars.
“I had to keep pushing and stay focused. Thank God I had the victory at last,” an elated Madueke said.
The 44th edition of the CBN Senior Tennis Tournament ended on Saturday.
WHEELCHAIR TENNIS TITLES
Alexander Adewale and Kafayat Omisore emerged champions respectively in the male and female categories of the 44th CBN Senior National Tennis Championships on Saturday in Abuja.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that in the final match of the male wheelchair singles event at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium number one seed Adewale retained his title.
Adewale defeated number two seed Yusuf Wasiu 6-2 7-6 7-5 to emerge champion.
In the female event’s final match, Omisore who was the competition’s number one seed beat the number four-seeded Oluwakemi Oluwasegun 6-1 6-2 to emerge champion.
Speaking after the male event’s match, Adewale said he was delighted to still remain the champion in the male category.
“I won the last year edition and I have won more than four championships consecutively.
“My opponent today has always been my rival in any competition.
“I thank the Nigeria Tennis Federation (NTF) and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for organising this championship,” he said.
Adewale said his target now is to participate in the 2024 Paralympics in Paris, asking the NTF to organise more events to help prepare him and others for the Games.
“We want the Federation to organise more national championships. We really need their support so that we can participate in major international competitions.
“This is the road to take for us to feature at the Paralympics. We all have the same challenge as wheelchair tennis players, and that is that we want to participate in international championships,” he said.
On her part, Omisore said she was also happy to win the championship.
“It was a tough work, but I thank God I ended well. My opponent also played well, but I defeated her based on experience.
“I did not relent and I continued to work hard to achieve my target. I will go back home and continue to train for any competition ahead ,” she said
NAN reports that a total of 32 wheelchair players participated in the championships, comprising 16 male and 16 female.
The 44th edition of the CBN Senior National Tennis Open Championships which started on May 13 ended on Saturday at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium.
