Serena Teluwo, the youngest player in the ongoing CBN Junior Tennis Championship, justified the investment of time and money her parents are spending on her by beating the number 2 seed Mary Udofa from Kogi State 9-6 in the Girls-10 and under round robin playoffs.
Playing on centre court with her mother, Joy and two elder sisters, watching, Serena, peeled off at 4-4 winning five out of the next seven games to secure a semi final place.
The Teluwos had sent their daughter to the JC Fererro Tennis Academy in Spain in 2013 at age six to establish a firm foundation for her development and played in two age group tournaments in America in March 2015.
“Serena has got the talent and enjoys playing tennis. We would give her all the support and encouragement she needs to excel,” her mother said.
In other matches, national junior champion, Angel Mcleod was pushed by Peace Udoh in the Girls-16s but finally overpowered her opponent who showed some remarkable improvement from the last junior tournament. Mcelod, who played in the Senior Masters last December, won 9-6.
In some of the boys matches, Nmesoma Ekeugo edged Taiwo Olufemi 9-8 in a Boys-12 match. The two Lagos-based players needed a tie-break to decide the match. In a Boys-14 match, Gabriel Friday from Kaduna beat Wilson Igbinovia from the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club 9-2.
The round robin matches are expected to be completed Thursday with four players emerging from each age group for the semi finals.
The competition is featuring singles events in five age categories: boys and girls 10, 12, 14, 16 and 18.
