WIMBLEDON TENNIS KICKS –OFF 31 YEARS AFTER ODIZOR’S GIANT STRIDES

WIMBLEDON TENNIS KICKS –OFF 31 YEARS AFTER ODIZOR’S GIANT STRIDES  

Nduka Odizor was one of the best players in the world of Ternnis in the 80's

BY ABDULMUMINI ADEKU.

Take a quick look at Wimbledon and travel in time and a certain Nduka Odizor otherwise called the Duke during his hey days as an International Tennis Payer will come to mind.

He had reached the Quarter Finals of the 1983 All England Tennis Championships otherwise called the Wimbledon Tennis Championships  and the then Nigerian President, Alhaji Shehu Shagari had sent him a congratulatory message as a True Nigerian sports Ambassador.

Wimbledon Tennis Championships is the number one tennis Competition in the world in terms of prime importance hence rightly graded as a grand slam because of its importance to players ranking on the Association of Tennis Professionals ATP tour ,the others been the French Open which holds at Roland Garros Clay Courts ,the Australian Open in Sydney and the United States Open at Flushing Meadows with the famous Davis Cup among member nations where Tennis is a national sport competing amongst themselves.

In those days,Tennis was a highly respected sports in Nigeria with the likes of David Imonitie, Sadiq Abdullahi  ,Tony Mmoh all competing at local and international levels.

Recently when this reporter paid an unscheduled visit to the Lagos country Club, one of the cradles of the sports in Nigeria ,it was leant that aside from when Venus and Serena Williams came to Nigeria in 2012 nothing was happening as gloom continues to hover the sports in Nigeria

 Nduka Odizor (born 9 August 1958, in Lagos) is a former tennis player from Nigeria, who represented his native country at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, where he was defeated in the first round by American lucky loser Robert Seguso. The right-hander won one career title in singles (Taipei, 1983) and seven doubles titles. He reached his highest ATP singles ranking of World No. 52 in June 1984.

Since Nduka Odizor left the sports in retirement most Nigerians in it at the professional level have flattered to deceive.