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Winners at the 32nd
edition of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Senior Open Tennis
Championships have solicited for more competitions in order to improve
their ratings on the international tennis circuit.

Sunday Emmanuel
returned to the winners’ podium over the weekend after displacing his
opponent, Henry Atesye, in two straight sets 7-6, 6-2 to emerge the
Men’s Singles champion; while Fatima Abinu retained her Ladies Singles
title as she defeated surprise finalist, Anuoluwa Aiyegbusi, 6-1, 5,7.

“It was a tough
competition for me but I thank God I came out tops. Right now my aim is
to improve on my international rankings and that means I have to take
part in more competitions in order to gather ATP points” an elated
Emmanuel said after his final match.

Improved rankings

Emmanuel is
currently the highest ranked Nigeria player on the ATP World Tour
Rankings on 1230; he believes he can move up the ladder once he is
given the opportunity of participating in different circuits and future
tennis tournaments around the world.

“Of course I can
improve on my position; all we need is support from the tennis
federation, corporate bodies and the government to take part in
competitions. My aim for now is to make it to the top 700 in the
rankings,” he said.

Similarly, the ladies singles champion, Abinu, also appealed for support for the players to regularly feature in tournaments.

Reacting, the
Nigerian Tennis Federation (NTF) President, Sani Ndanusa, hinted that
the federation will soon officially appeal to CBN so that winners from
the tournament can represent the country in tournaments around the
world.

Over 200 players
participated in this year’s edition of the CBN tennis championships and
over six million naira was shared as prize money by the players.