19th October, 2012
Taiwo Adelu
Egypt’s Sherif Sabry beat his compatriot, Karim-Mohammed Maamoun to qualify for Saturday’s final of the first leg (Futures 1) of 2012 Governor’s Cup Lagos Tennis Championship.
Maamoun, who defeated top seed, Slovak Kamil Capkovic, was not a match for his Egyptian brother, who defeated him in straight sets of 6-4,6-2 in the semi final match played at the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club, Onikan on Friday.
Sabry will now meet Enrique Lopez-Perez of Spain who defeated Japanese Kento Takeuchi in 6-3,3-6,6-1 match.
In the Women’s Singles, the ambition of top seed, Russian Nina Bratchikova to win the first leg of the Governor’s Cup this year was stopped by a Romanian player, Cristina Dinu.
Dinu, the tournament’s number 5 seed upset the Grand Slam player in a thrilling 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 encounter on Friday.
The Romanian star will meet South Africa’s Chanel Simmonds in Futures 1 final on Saturday morning. Simmonds beat Conny Perrin of Sweden 6-2,6-2 in the semi final.
Meanwhile, the qualifiers for the second leg of the FCMB/Etisalat Nigeria sponsored ITF pro circuit will be played on Saturday and Sunday ahead of the Main Draws which will serve off on Monday.
All the players were seeing perfecting their preparation for the second leg as they are busy training on other courts where matches were not being played on Friday.