Calvin Hemery and Aldin Setkic will contest the Lagos Open men’s singles final, while Sada Nahimana and Laura Pigossi go head-to-head for the women’s singles crown on Monday.
Hemery, the tournament’s 4th seed from France, returned to court after days of rain delay to complete his quarter-final match against Zimbabwe’s Mehluli Sibanda, continuing from he left off, at 3-1 in the first set, to register a 7-5, 6-4 victory and move into the last four, where he produced a powerful display to beat the second Zimbabwean in a day, Takanyi Garanganga, 6-4, 6-0 in 63 minutes, showing no signs of fatigue.
Calvin Hemery hits a return
The 24-year-old Frenchman, bidding for his fourth title on Tour and first since 2017, will face 2015 champion, Aldin Setkic in Monday’s final.
Setkic had little problems beating 2nd seed, Aziz Dougaz in the quarterfinals. The Bosnian made light work of the Tunisian, winning 6-3, 6-3. In the semifinals, however, he was made to work by Austria’s David Pichler before securing a 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 victory in 2 hours, 41 minutes. The 31-year-old is now one win away from his 28th ITF World Tour title.
Aldin Setkic
Elsewhere, Burundi’s Sada Nahimana kept up her impressive form to power into the women’s singles final, following a convincing 6-3, 6-1 victory over Fanny Ostlund of Sweden. It’s a third straight final for the 18-year-old, who’s looking to win her first title on the ITF World Tour.
Nahimana and Ostlund shake hands netside after their match.
Nahimana takes on 6th seed, Laura Pigossi, who outclassed Riya Bhatia of India 6-2, 6-2 in 90 minutes. Pigossi had earlier completed her quarterfinal match against Rutuja Bhosale of India, 7-5, 7-5.
Interestingly, Pigossi and Bhosale are into the women’s doubles final after a superb week of partnership.
The duo defeated the pair of Nika Kukharchuk and Fanny Ostlund in today’s semifinals and for the title, will square off against the Egyptian-Indian pair of Sandra Samir and Prarthana Thombare, who claimed a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Sada Nahimana and Lexie Stevens.
Sandra Samir and Prarthana Thombare
In the men’s doubles, the Tunisian duo of Skander Mansouri and Aziz Dougaz rallied from a set down to beat Frenchmen, Calvin Hemery and Tristan Meraut 4-6, 6-4, 10-7, and will take on the Zimbabwean brothers, Benjamin Lock and John Lock in the final on Monday.
Aziz Dougaz and Skander Mansouri (R)
The Locks, who are yet to drop a set so far, ousted the French pair of Gianni Mina and Thomas Setdoji 6-4, 6-4 to come within one match win of a 12th doubles title as a pair on the ITF World Tour.
All finals are scheduled for Monday, 14 October, from 10:00am at the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club, Onikan.
