Ositelu Calls For Tennis Revival In Nigeria

Tennis writer, Deacon Ayo Ositelu has said that the game is nonexistent in the country and blamed the situation on the lack of a national open championship.

“What suffices a as tennis championship these days is the Governors Cup which to me does not provide the forum for genuine talents to emerge.

“The Governors Cup simply acts as a stepping stone for players seeking to improve their standing in the ATP rankings,” Ositelu told newsmen yesterday.

He said that the national open championship, the platform where genuine grass roots talents were discovered, did not exist today.

Ositelu said that the country needed to have people with a deep understanding of the game to take over the administration of the sport.

According to him, with a purpose driven administration in place, an aggressive grass roots developmental programme can be embarked on.

He said that the government needed to adopt an aggressive development programme for youths in the country in order to revive the game.

He urged the government to give to tennis, the same attention it gave to football.

“Other sports should be \encouraged and not football alone,” he said, adding that Novak Djokovic’s triumph over Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon last month brought global recognition for his  country, Serbia.