The only Nigerian standing in the ongoing second leg Lagos Open
Tennis, Barakat Quadre, has crashed out of the tournament.
Quadre was unable to survive the superior power of her Ukrainian
opponent, Strakhova Valeriya, in their quarter-final match decided on
Friday at the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club, Onikan.
Morroco-based Quadre had broken a record as the only Nigerian woman
player to have qualified to the quarter-final level of the ITF World
Tour in Lagos on Thursday.
Despite playing a determined game against the Ukrainian, the Nigerian
could not proceed to the next round of the competition.
Quadre earned a 7-5 win in the first set – an early break that she
failed to sustain and consolidate on.
Valeriya, however, forcefully came back to take the game out of Quadre
as she won the remaining two sets – 6-3, 6-1 in a pulsating match that
lasted two hours 35 minutes.
In other quarter-final matches in the women’s singles, top seed Mendez
Seone from Austria lost 6-4, 0-6, 0-6 to sixth seed Bhatia Riya.
The fifth seed, Bhosale Rutuja from India also upset Samir Sandra from
Egypt, who is the tournament’s number three seed in a straight set of
6-2, 6-0 to book a semi-final ticket.
Brazil’s Luara Pigozzi who was runner up in the final last week failed
to make it to the semis as she lost to Nastja Kolar from Slovenia 2-6,
6-5, 5-7.
In the men’s singles, Zimbabwe’s Takanyi Garanganga beat Frenchman
Gianni Mina 6-0, 6-4, while Calvin Hemery from France defeated
Benjamin Lock in a straight set of 6-3, 6-0.
Tunisia’s Aziz Quakaa also defeated his brother Dougaz 5-7, 6-4, 4-2.
The semi-final and final matches have been scheduled for Saturday
while the state governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, would declare the
competition closed.
