Femi Solaja
A lowly-rated Nigerian player, Joseph Imeh Ubon on Tuesday caused a major upset in the second leg (Futures 5) of the ongoing Governor’s Cup Lagos Tennis Championship when he shocked French player, Stephan Fransen, in one of the first round matches played at the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club, Onikan..
Imeh, who is ranked number 1951 in the world, proved too much for Fransen, ranked 562. With cheers from fans at the venue, the Nigerian youngster defeated his opponent in a game that ended 0-6,6-3,6-0. Surprisingly, the French player was a finalist in the men’s singles in Futures 4.
Imeh will now play tournament Number 4 seed, Ilkel Cem of Turkey in the second round this morning.
However, Henry Atseye could not make it like Imeh as he retired in the second set of his game against Ilija Vucic of Serbia with a 6-2,2-0 result. Also, Christopher Bulus was defeated 6-4,6-4 by Thomas Setodji of France in another game.
Other men’s singles results saw Lance-Pierre du Toit of South Africa beat Giovanni Samaha of Liberia 5-7, 6-3,6-0.
Tournament’s Number 1, Indian Prajnesh Gunneswaran, got the best out of France’s Manuel Guinard in straight set of 6-4,6-0, while Egyptian Sherif Sabry beat Alexis Klegou of Côte d’ Ivoire.
Barakat Oyinlomo Quadri was defeated by French Harmony Tan, who is the Number 8 seed in straight sets of 6-4,6-0.
Also Futures 4 winner in the women’s singles, Israeli Deniz Khazaniuk beat Adetayo Adetunji 6-1,6-1.
Meanwhile, Conny Perrin of Switzerland scaled the hurdles to the second round after her opponent, Jesmin Jebawy of Germany retired in the second set of their match. The match ended 6-0,2-0. Number two seed, Ayla Aksu from Turkey beat Tiffany William of Great Britain 6-4,6-4
