Sports
ORGANIZERS of the Tennis Players’ Parents Association (TPPA) UTR National Junior Tennis Classics, said on Tuesday that tennis superstars could be groomed from the young talents that abound in Nigeria.
The TPPA President, Segun Aluko, made this known at a briefing to serve off of the 2024 TPPA UTR National Junior Tennis Classics at the Lagos Country Club, Joel Ogunaike, Ikeja.
He, however, said that such feat was also achievable through proper funding, commitment and sponsors for tennis players to make Nigeria proud in the sport.
He assured that the TPPA would attract the biggest Clay Court tournament in West Africa, with the best ones from Nigeria.
“We can raise players such as Novak Djokovic and the Williams sisters in Nigeria because we have the players. However, bringing up tennis stars involves a lot of funds and commitments.
“We will need sponsors for these Stars and when they eventually becomes the Super stars, they will not only grab the headline as individuals but their nationality will also be mentioned as Nigerians,’’ he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the 2024 TPPA UTR National Junior Tennis Classics, set to serve-off at the Lagos Country Club would attract about 72 players across the regions in Nigeria.
Aluko said other participants would be able to compete at the championship through wild cards.
He said that the grand finale of the week-long Junior Tennis Classics would begin on April 8 for winners in the various regional championships that held earlier across Nigeria.
Aluko also said that given the abundance of tennis stars in Nigeria, the country was ripe to have indigenous tennis players to compete in top championships such as ATP Masters, Grand Slams among others.
The ex-Tennis player also called for adequate monitoring for a smooth transition of the youth players to the senior cadre.
He said that such transition had remained a missing link in the progression of Nigerian tennis players.
“Last year, we held about seven tournaments and this year also we are planning a bigger tournament wherein we will give an opportunity to every aspiring tennis player to showcase their talents.
“We will be having the grand finale of the 2024 TPPA UTR National Junior Tennis Classics here at the Lagos Country Club and would end on the 13th of April.
“The idea of the tournament is to have a rich pool of the best of young tennis Stars across Nigeria to come and compete among themselves in Lagos.
“Our target is to attract the biggest Clay Court tournament in West Africa, with the best ones from Nigeria. Currently, we have the record as Number One in West Africa and also East Africa,” Aluko said.
The former Chairman of the Tennis section of the Lagos Country Club also highlighted that the competition also planned to extend the dragnet of its scouting for best players to other West African countries.
“For us, in the nearest future, we want to go global by attracting other West African neighbours to participate in the TPPA UTR National Junior Tennis Classics.
“The competition has a lots of advantages because it’s one of its kind in Africa that has the certification of Universal Tennis Ranking (UTI), which means any ranking made in the tournament will be accepted all over the world.
“Any player that has TPPA rankings can present such anywhere in the world and will be accepted.
“The only requirement is verification of claims which is already on the website of International Tennis Federation (ITF).
“We want to provide the support needed for the grassroots development of Tennis because we notice the gap in the transition of players from the youth level to the senior level,” he said.
Aluko said that players from Nigeria were capable of playing at the topmost level of tennis in the world if they were properly exposed and funded.
“We have players in Nigeria that should be playing at the topmost competition in the world but as I have said we have a duty to ensure a good transition of the players.
“This is a big but achievable task we want to give ourselves because we have seen potentials among the tennis stars in Nigeria and we need to develop them,” he said. (NAN)
Tags: Joel Ogunaike Lagos Country Club Segun Aluko Tennis Players’ Parents Association
