David Ekpenyong and MaryLove Edwards at the weekend emerged winners of the 45th CBN Senior National Open Tennis Championship men and women’s singles event respectively in Abuja.
Ekpenyong, tournament 2nd seed, beat top seed Uche Oparaoji who was forced to retire with a troubling shoulder injury 6-1, 4-1 to win his first CBN Senior Open title.
Ekpenyong got off to a flying start in the contest by winning his opening service game 3-1, then wrapped up the opening set after the break.
Oparaoji, playing in his second singles final in the space of three weeks, called for a medical timeout after losing the opening game of the second set before quitting the match midway and surrendered the title to Ekpenyong.
Victory means the Vemp Open runner up Ekpenyong who lost to Oparaoji in the final a fortnight ago, won his second title in Abuja after his DavNotch Open triumph.
The 17-year-old Ekpenyong, described his victory as a sweet one for him as he avenged his earlier defeat in the final to his fierce rival.
“I am elated and feel very fulfilled having won my first CBN Senior title.
“It had been my life-long dream to win this title having won the junior U14 category.
“I come here to participate in this tournament every year and also watch people win the final; I always wished it would be me and here I am now holding the much coveted trophy.
“My opponent is someone I am very much familiar with having played him four times now.
“He beat me at the Dala Hard Court tournament in Kano in November, before I returned the favour at the Rain Oil tournament in Lagos in December.
“I also lost to him at the Vemp Open final here two weeks ago and so besides winning my first CBN title, I was also determined and focused on winning today so as to even our head-to-head record,” he said.
The exciting Ekpenyong said he had to work hard and dig deep after his painful Defeat to Oparaoji at the Vemp Open final to emerge victorious..
“I had to step up my game and play more aggressively this time around. I went for my shots and didn’t hold back because I had nothing to lose,” he said.
Oparaoji on his part, said he had been nursing the shoulder injury right from the onset of the tournament, but kept playing with pain until he couldn’t hold it any more.
“I tried my best to play and tried very hard to endure the excruciating pain until I couldn’t manage it anymore.
“The doctor advised me to take a two- week break from playing and that’s why I had to retire in the second set,” he said.
In the women’s singles event, first seed Edwards continued with her ruthless form as she dismissed number two seed Aanu Aiyegbusi 6-2, 6-3 to claim a third straight title in a row in Abuja.
Coming into the tournament, the Nigerian top ranked female tennis player was a clear favourite having won both the 2023 VEMP Open and DavNotch Tennis Open Championship titles respectively in Abuja
The number one showed no signs of fatigue as she raced through the first set and then had to come from 3-0 down in the second set to wrap up the match.
In the men’s doubles event, Matthew Abamu and Chima Michael teamed up to defeat the pair of Albert Bikom and Peter Lawal who had to retire 7-5, 4-4 with scores even in the second set.
In the Wheelchair tennis men’s event, Top seed, Alex Adewale, eased past Williams Ukari in an incredible 6-2, 6-2 victory, to claim his 11th consecutive title at the CBN Open.
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