Lagos State Governor, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode at the weekend said the State Government will fully support the setting up of a Lawn Tennis Academy in the State that would make the annual Lagos Open International Tennis Championship attract the global attention that it truly deserves.
Governor Ambode, who spoke at the finals of the 2018 Lagos Open Championship held at the Lawn Tennis Club in Onikan, Lagos, said the State Government has held talks with the State’s Lawn Tennis Association to open up an academy with state-of-the-art facilities that would attract world class players in future competitions.
“This is the beginning of the support that Lagos State will continue to give to Lagos Open. The whole idea is for us to be able to move away from this particular location and set up a Lawn Tennis Academy that can actually have an upgrade of a world class competition.
“They have actually spoken to us that we need to open an academy. You see, what we have here on this ground is just seven courts, but if you want it to be globally attended and we want this Lagos Open to be globally competitive, we need an academy that would have like 16 courts and have other facilities to attract world class players and that is what Lagos is ready to partner with the association and because we want the name Lagos on the world map, Lagos State Government has to support the idea of a lawn tennis academy and that is where we are going,” he said.