Top seeds Oyinlomo Quadre and Aanu Aiyegbusi on Friday advance to the semi-finals of the ongoing Central Bank of Nigeria Senior Open Tennis Championship in Abuja.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Quadre, the tournament’s number one seed, was ruthless in the quarter-final match as she dispatched Ronke Akingbade 6-0 6-1 under an hour.
Quadre, who is currently the country’s number one player in both the junior and senior categories, had on Thursday dispatched Oluchi Ozurumba 6-1 6-0 in the round of 16.
“My strategy is always to take it one game at a time and I am happy that I am just two steps away from the final. I am optimistic that I can defend my title for the third time in a row,” a delighted Quadre, who is Africa’s number two, told NAN.
Also, Aanu Aiyegbusi, the tournament’s number two seed, advanced to the semi-finals after a hard fought 7-5 7-5 win over Jummai Mohammed to put an end to her opponent’s fairytale run.
“It was such a tough match. She’s such a tough player. This means a lot to me.
“I did the best I could to block out the hype. I played my game and fought for every point. First set, she played some really good points at crucial moments.
“I just played my match and tried to win every point,” a clearly exhausted Aiyegbusi said after the game.
Mohammed who came into the main draw through the qualifiers had created an upset when she dismissed the tournament’s fifth seed Patience Onebamhoin 6-2 6-3 in the first round on Tuesday.
Similarly, she had advanced to the third round of the women’s singles after a 6-1 6-1 whitewash of the highly-rated Ohunene Yakubu.
It helped her to set up a quarter-finals showdown with number two seed, Aiyegbusi.
“It was a great match and an experience for me. She’s obviously a great player. She hits the ball big and trusts her strokes. So, it was a good test to see me defend against that.
“But I think I was reluctant to take my chances when I could at times in the game and stayed too much on offence
“It’s a learning curve for me at this point in my career and I can only get better by playing more of these kind of matches,” Mohammed said.
Results of other quarter-final matches in the women’s singles category also played on Friday saw Oiza Yakubu walk over Favour Moses to set up a mouth-watering clash with Quadre.
Tournament’s number four seed, Marylove Edward, advanced to the semi-finals after beating Serah Adegoke in two straight sets 6-0 6-3.
She will now take on Aiyegbusi for a chance for the final match.
The championship, which began on Monday, is expected to end on Saturday.
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