This year’s edition of the annual Rainoil Tennis Championship is billed to commence this Thursday at the Tennis Section of Ikoyi Club 1938, Lagos, sports247.ng can report.
This was disclosed by the group managing director of Rainoil, Gabriel Ogbechie, who said over 180 players are expected to feature in this year’s week long tennis competition.
Ogbechie said Rainoil has been sponsoring tennis in the past 10 years because of their love for the game and desire to produce world stars for Nigeria.
Ogbechie added that the tournament has been made open in order to add value to it and allow more top quality players to be involved.
He said: “The previous format of Tennis Masters was restrictive. It was meant for only the top eight male and top eight female players on the Nigeria Tennis Federation ranking.
“But since last year we decided to open it up. This year we are expecting the top 64 male players as well as the top 32 female players on the NTF ranking to take part in it.
“The top tennis players in the world like Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Rafa Nadal have each earned over $100m in the course of their careers.
“That is why we at Rainoil want to encourage our young ones to play the game.
“We are very passionate about tennis in Rainoil which is why we have been sponsoring this tournament for ten years now.
“I have played tennis since I was a child. I know that tennis is one game to encourage our young boys and girls to earn decent living for themselves.”
