Tennis action continues at the African Games in Rabat, Morocco on Saturday, with other Nigerian players on the day’s menu.
Sylvester Emmanuel secured a three-set win in his opener on Friday, while Thomas Otu fell in straight-sets. Joseph Imeh and Emmanuel Sunday will now look to get off to winning starts, while the women, all of whom received first-round byes, will seek to continue progressing.
Imeh will face Abdoulaye Bagayoko of Mali for a place in the second round. Imeh has been in good form on the national scene and is on the back of a semifinal-run at the CBN Open in June. Should Imeh get past the Malian, he could face 17-year-old Eliakim Coulibaly of Ivory Coast in the second round.
Elsewhere, Emmanuel Sunday will take on Fenosoa Rasendra of Madagascar in his opener and victory for him will see him face Egypt’s Mohamed Safwat, a 24-time ITF World Tour champion who’s ranked 232 in the world.
In the women’s event, Oyinlomo Quadre, seeded 11th, goes head-to-head with Fudla Kargbo of Sierra Leone in the second round. Quadre has had a fantastic year so far, winning her biggest career title at the ITF Junior Tennis Club de Megrine in Tunisia, a Grade 3 event, which propelled her into the top-200 on the ITF World Junior Rankings. She also powered to the CBN Senior Open women’s singles title in June and should come into this match with plenty of confidence.
Also, Nigeria’s No.1 Blessing Samuel meets No.13 seed, Feryel Hassen of Tunisia for a place in the third round, while Aanu Aiyegbusi squares off against home favourite, Sara Akid of Morocco, who’s seeded 12th. Adesuwa Osabuohein, the UK-based Nigerian, will also be in action on the day, with the 24-year-old locking horns with 9th seed, Faith Omurunga for a spot in the third round.