26 February 2008
Lagos — Ivorian Tennis Star, Valentine Sanon has alleged that Nigerian players are lazy and also not ready to play outside the shores of Nigeria. Sanon who is making his fourth appearance on Nigerian soil is bitter over the players' poor performance at the just concluded future one of the Guinness Ogbe Hard Court.
The big-serving Ivorian said talents abound in Nigeria but are not ready to make sacrifice that will improve their status. "Nigeria is rich in talents; they only need exposure by playing outside Nigeria. Tennis is an individual sports and they must work hard."
He expressed regret over his inability to win the men's singles title following his 6-3, 7-6 defeat to French man Jeremy. "I disappointed my fans, I am not happy for throwing all the support they game me.
It wasn't my day. I played badly in the first set and my opponents capitalized on my weakness to win the second set."
Sanon said he has put his loss behind and he is set to win the singles trophy in the future two which begins today.
The Ivorian number one seed said he has taken Nigeria as his second home and will grab Nigerian citizenship if given. "I love Nigeria, it's a beautiful country. The people here are friendly and respect you a lot. Whenever I am here, I feel comfortable because of the hospitality I get. I will be glad if I'm given Nigerian passport", he said.
He said he would make good use of the $1,690 prize money he won by moving to the end of the tournament. He revealed that players who excel at the championship will be honored at the Ogbe Hard Court. Meanwhile, Nigeria's Hannah Ekeh was left in limbo and devastated after her early exist from the Guinness Ogbe Hard Court in Benin Monday morning.
Ekeh, who is ranked 1024 in the NTF, could not control her emotions following her 6-2, 6-2 loss to Ukrainian Kazimova Khristina in the first round of the women's singles. She blamed her defeat to hard luck. "She wasn't better than me only that luck was on her side, my shots lacked power and she took advantage of it.
"I've put aside the defeat and intend to do well at the doubles event on Tuesday. I'll work on my serves which have not been good in recent times. With the support of my partner Ronke Akingbode we will do well in the doubles", she said.
The Imo State born player, who first played tennis at the age of nine, wants the organizers to increase the prize money and provide accommodation for players as it is the practice in the Lagos Governors Cup. "The prize money is too small. First round losers get 100 dollars while at the Governor's Cup you get 600 dollars. They should also provide accommodation in the next edition.
The high cost of accommodation is scaring many players away", she said.
Ekeh who has won four major tournaments said Nigerian players need exposure to compete favourably with their counterpart. She wants more competitions to improve the sport in the country. "We have good players, but we don't have sponsors, the foreign players have sponsorship, and they play more tournaments than we do", she added.
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