Oyinlomo Quadre, who’s now the only Nigerian left in the singles draw of the Lagos Open, will play for a place in the last four on Friday.
The top seed in the women’s draw, Seone Mendez and last week’s men’s singles champion, Calvin Hemery are also on Friday’s menu.
Quadre, 16, reached her first quarterfinals on the ITF World Tour on Thursday after her second round opponent, Tamara Curovic retired midway through their contest. Although, the young Nigerian was already in complete control of proceedings, leading 6-2, 1-0 before the Serb called it quits.
Quadre will now face 2nd seed, Valeriya Strakhova in the second match on Centre Court for a place in the semifinals. Strakhova suffered a first round exit in the first leg last week, falling to 14-year-old Isabella Kruger of South Africa in three sets. However, she has done well to reach the quarter-finals this week, and like Quadre, hasn’t dropped a set along the way. Strakhova, who’s ranked 382 in the world, defeated Jasmine Jebawy 6-1, 6-0 in the previous round, and will be looking to keep up the momentum in her bid for a 13th ITF title. But Quadre will present a tough challenge.
This match will be a repeat of their second round encounter in Lagos last year, which Strakhova won 6-2, 6-3. Can Quadre get her revenge?
Top seed, Seone Mendez will go head-to-head with India’s Riya Bhatia, who’s seeded 6th. Bhatia reached the semifinals in the first leg and will be aiming to go one better this week. The Indian hasn’t dropped a set so far, but will now face her toughest test yet. Mendez has been in great form this year, with six titles won, and has been really impressive so far this week. Can she keep it going?
1st leg champion, Calvin Hemery and Benjamin Lock open play on Centre Court. Hemery is on a 7-match winning streak and is on course for another title this week. The Frenchman defeated Benjamin’s brother, Courtney, 6-0, 6-1 in the previous round. Will he inflict defeat on the other Lock? Or will Benjamin bring the Frenchman’s run to a halt.
Matches begin from 9:30am on Friday at the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club, Onikan.
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