The lone Nigerian player left in the first leg of the ongoing Governors Cup Tennis in Lagos on Thursday crashed out of the tournament at the quarter-final stage.
Christian Paul was bundled out by tournament’s number two seed, Lloyd Harris of South Africa.
The 17-year-old Lloyd was exceptionally good with his fore hand, back hand and power serves.
Lloyd, with strong drive, extensively added power in his service to earn crucial points.
His serves and fore hand strokes landed deep at the edge of Paul’s end of the court, making it impossible for the Nigerian to return most of the balls.
In the first set, Paul showed some strength of character as he tried to contain the power stokes of the South African, but eventually wilted toward the end of the first set.
His poor delivery and poor steps further slowed down his game.
In the second set, the Nigerian appeared to have lost confidence in his game and failed to reproduce the form that he had shown against a Ugandan during an earlier match.
Paul told the News Agency of Nigeria after the match that he was disappointed with his performance.
He said he lost composure when he found out that the margin between him and his opponent had widened.
Paul said: “I cannot really explain what happened in the last 30 minutes.
“I only know that I did not play my game.
“I feel ashamed of myself and wish I had given him a good fight.”
The championship, now in the 15th edition, would run from December 5 to 19.
NAN.