Officiating At Tennis Championship Excites Players

Some players have
lauded the  officiating during the first leg of the ongoing Governor’s Cup tournament holding  at the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club, Onikan.
In separate interviews  with newsmen the participants  described the officials as dedicated, consistent and impartial.
They also said that the officials at the tournament showed they were knowledgeable and applied the current rules of the International Tennis Federation (ITF) in the handling of matches.
Nigeria’s Clifford Enosoregbe, ranked 1,674  by the ITF, told newsmen that he was impressed with  the officiating,  stressing that officials did not display bias in arriving at  decisions.
He said  his elimination in the first leg of the championships had nothing to do with officiating, promising that he would perform better during the second leg  that started on Sunday.
“The officiating of the tournament has been okay. To be frank, I was not robbed of any match point in the tournament,’’ he said.
South African  Ruan Roelofse, who was seeded seven, also said that officials at the tournament worked within the ambit of the ITF.
Roelofse said that there had not been any complaint  of officiating lapses.
“For me, the officiating has been fair because there had been no complaint since the beginning of the tournament,’’ he said.
Lawal Shehu, Nigeria’s top male player, said  officials at the tournament were in tune with the current rules of the ITF, adding that they applied the rules well.
“ I think the officiating in this tournament is perfect. To the best of my knowledge, they complied with ITF rules,’’ he said.
Unseeded  Andre Gaspar Murta of Portugal, on his part, said the tournament  was of high standard.
“The organisation is good and I don’t have any problem with the officiating,’’ Murta said.
Hiroki Kondo, the top men’s seed,  said officials at the tournament were aware of sanctions by the IT   if found culpable of offences of cheating or unfair officiating.
“ They officiated well because they are also guarding against anything that might affect their rating,’’ he said.
India ‘s  Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan, seeded three, simply urged the officials to continue with their fair officiating during the second leg of the championships.
The championship was jointly sponsored by First City Monument Bank  and telecommunications giant, Etisalat Nigeria.
The championship would  end  on Saturday.