The annual Lagos Open Tennis Championship is gradually coming closer, when the city of Lagos, the commercial nerve centre of Nigeria, will once again be a centre of world attraction when the International Tennis Federation (ITF) approved Lagos Open Tennis is held between 7 and 20 October 2019.
The ITF Tour, which enters its 19th edition, had been known as the Governor’s Cup Lagos Tennis Championship since the year 2000 when its first edition was held at the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos, but rechristened Lagos Open Tennis last year for what the organisers described as rebranding of the tournament to become a Challenger starting from the 2020 edition.
With record entries of players from more than 60 countries across the world, the Lagos Open Tennis has always been a destination for emerging young tennis players to fight for ATP points and $100,000 prize money in the men and women’s singles as well as the doubles events in both the men and women categories. The tournament is played within the course of two weeks (Futures 4 &5) at the Lawn Tennis Club, Onikan, Lagos.
In last year’s tournament, British youngster, Jack Draper, caused a major upset in the finals of the second leg watched by the former Governor of Lagos, Akinwunmi Ambode and other important personalities, as well as hundreds of school children who were mobilised to watch live tennis action from the older players.
Draper became the youngest winner of an ITF Futures tournament in Nigeria following a 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over the highly experienced top seed, Tom Jomby of France. The 16-year-old Brit was to after the Lagos Open has gone on to play in the 2019 Wimbledon Open and made surprising improvement of his tennis career.
This had always been the testimonies of players who came to Lagos for the Championship. Sania Mirza of India won the two legs of women’s singles in the 2004 edition. Sania, Indian top woman player, in the two years following this Championship, went on to become No. 27 highest-ranked player in the world. Alex Sabrinsky from Great Britain won the tournament in the 2007 edition. He was to break into the Davis Cup team of his country in the following year.
