‘Nigeria Tennis Is Growing’

As Nigeria set to mark her 51st Independence Anniversary, the national coach of the Nigerian Tennis Federation, Rotimi Akinloye, has said that the game is yet to reach the climax.

Akinloye said tennis is still going through developmental stage in the country if compared with other top nations across the globe.

He agreed that there is a pool of talents in the country but there is no conducive environment to nurture them to stardom.

“The game is still growing in the country. We are yet to be there because there are so many hurdles to cross,” he said.

He expressed satisfaction with the performance of the players at the recently concluded All Africa Games, where the nation won one gold in double event, one silver and two bronze medals in the singles’ event.

He said the development of tennis should be a collective efforts from all stakeholders, adding that Nigerian players are lowly ranked in the world.

“We need to get it right. It is not what the government or federation can do alone. All hands must be on deck for us to be at the peak of the game globally. Government, federation, coaches and players have their individual roles to play in taking us there, “ he said.

He also tasked corporate organisations to invest strongly in the game by sponsoring tourneys in order to keep tennis players busy at all time. He added that the higher the number of tournaments the players participate in, the better they are to able compete with their counterparts all over the world.

—Olusegun Abidoye