Oyinlomo Quadre, alongside her partner, Salma Loudili of Morocco finished as runner-up in the doubles event of the 13ème Tournoi International Juniors de Tlemcen, a Grade 2 clay-court event in Tlemcen, Algeria.
The duo had defeated the Algerian pair of Ines Bekrar and Rehab Mebarki in the first round in straight sets and the Finn-Dutch tandem of Alexandra Antilla and Clarine Lerby, who were seeded top, in straight sets, too, to reach the semifinals.
Quadre and Loudili in action.
In the semis, Quadre and Loudili would combine brilliantly to rally from a set down and beat Sara Akid and Yasmine Kabbaj 4-6, 6-4, 10-6. But they were outdueled in the final, losing 6-7, 6-4, 10-6 to the Italian pair of Matilde Mariani and Asia Serafini on Friday.
In the singles event, however, Quadre had retired due to injury midway through her quarter-final match against Yasmine Kabbaj on Thursday. Despite that, Quadre is encouraged by her performance and has taken positives from the week in Algeria.
“My performance was okay. I would say I am not backing down yet,” noted Quadre. “And this week, I gave it my all although I came out short in the singles, I tried my best and I have a lot of lessons to take home.”
Doubles runner-up, Quadre and Akid (1st & 2nd from left, front row) and winners, Antilla and Lerby pose with their trophies alongside Quadre’s ITF coach, Rosemary (far right) and tennis lovers.
The Nigerian has had a sensational month, in which she secured a third-place finish at the African Junior Closed Championships for 16 & Under in Hammamet, Tunisia, and then, her biggest career title-win at the ITF Junior Tennis Club de Megrine also in Tunisia, a victory that propelled her to a career-high ranking of 202 on the ITF Junior World Rankings.
Given the absence of the Grade 2 or 3 tournaments anytime soon, Quadre, who’ll turn 16 on May 1st, is looking to have a nice time off competitive action.
“I will rest for the next one month or two,” she said. “Hopefully have a nice birthday and practice while doing Ramadan.”
