Top male seed, Spain’s Enrique Lopez-Perez, and Tadeja Majeric of Slovakia have set their eyes on winning the men and women’s categories of the second leg (Futures 6) of the ongoing Governor’s Cup Lagos Tennis Championships.
The finals in the male and female categories of the competition are scheduled for Saturday at the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club, Onikan.
Lopez-Perez and Majeric were outstanding in the first leg (Futures 5), claiming the top prizes of both the men’s and women’s singles respectively.
Now the stage is set for the two players to win the competition back to back within two weeks.
In their respective semi-finals on Friday, Lopez-Perez fought hard to beat Tunisian Moez Echargui in a game that ended 6-1, 3-6, 6-0.
Lopez-Perez, coming to Nigeria after a long injury and winning Futures 5 and now on the verge of winning Futures 6, will record a big achievement this year if his dream comes through.
He has promised his fans that he would give the final match on Saturday his all.
Meanwhile, in the other male semi-final match, number two seed, Calvin Hemery of France, defeated compatriot Gianni Mina, seeded five, in straight set of 6-1, 6-4.
An elated Hemery said that he was glad that he won his doubles partner and owed his win to his determination to play Lopez-Perez.
Mina told NAN that some mistakes he made in the course of the semi-final match cost him the final ticket.
Mina said: “I have to put this defeat behind me because I still need to play at least five to six tournaments before the year comes to an end.
“My determination is to be within the top 400 by December as I’m currently on number 586 in the world.
“I’m also happy that my coming to Lagos will further increase my ranking.’’
In the women’s category, Majeric had an easy ride over Julia Terziyska of Bulgaria, winning in straight set 6-4, 6-2 to set up the final battle against her opponent in last weekend’s final, Conny Perrin of Switzerland.
She said that she was expecting nothing less than victory against Perrin who had become her perennial foe in the Lagos tournament.
Majeric recalled that since she had been coming to play in the Governor’s Cup Lagos Tennis Championships in the past six editions, she had always met Perin at crucial stages.
Perrin, seeded three, had upset number one seed, Valentini Grammatikopoulou of Greece in the other women’s semi-final encounter which ended 6-3, 6-1.
Meanwhile, all is set for Saturday’s final ceremony with the Local Organising Committee, headed by Chief Pius Akinyelure promising a glamorous event.
Govenor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State will be in attendance to watch the final of the men’s singles which serves off by 3 p.m. but will be preceded by the women’s singles final at 12.30 p.m.
Early on Saturday, the media tennis, an exhibition game, will also be played where the likes of Chief Segun Odegbami and other journalists will take to the courts to play tennis.
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