Abayomi Philips produced yet another brilliant performance, beating No.1 seed Aaryan Zaveri of India to reach the semifinals of the ITF/CAT Circuit Junior De L’Afrique De L’Ouest – an ITF Grade 5 event in Lome.
Philips claimed a fine 7-6(7), 6-3 victory to remain on course for back-to-back titles on the ITF Junior Circuit.
The 17-year-old Nigerian had clinched the GTFLifetime Athletic Open in Accra, Ghana last week and is now on track to replicating that success in Lome.
Up next for Philips is 3rd seed, Quattara Nafiralo of Ivory Coast, who defeated Koffi Goudjinou 3-6, 7-5, 6-2. It’s a rematch of the pair’s quarter-finals encounter in Accra last week, which Philips won in three sets. Can he beat the Ivorian for the second time in as many weeks?
Meanwhile, in the doubles event, the Nigerian-Togolese pair of Emmanuel Jebutu and Kodjo Charles were beaten in the semifinals 4-6, 7-6, 10-4 by the Beninese duo of Dylan Bruce and Mariano Kpodeziaou.