ISRAEL TAIWO
Winner of the women’s singles in the first leg (Futures 4) of the ongoing Governor’s Cup Lagos Tennis Championship, Israeli Deniz khazaniuk, has revealed the reason for coming to Lagos to play the International Tennis Federation (ITF) pro circuit competition.
He told P.M.EXPRESS at the lounge of the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club, Onikan after she triumphed over Conny Perrin of Switzerland in the final on Saturday that her ambition to secure qualification slot to play in the 2018 Australian Open lured her to Lagos to participate in the ongoing Governor’s Cup.
According to Khazaniuk, winning Futures 4 of the Governor’s Cup has put her in vantage position to be considered for the Aussie Open and if she can as well do in the second leg (Futures 5), it will be an added advantage to actualize her ambition against January in the Grand Slams.
On her first time experience in Lagos, the Israeli player, who had played for her country in the Fed Cup, described it as excellent, adding that the Governor’s Cup is a boost for the Nigerian players to get exposed and mixed up with their counterparts across the world.
“I like the organisation of the competition and I wish the prize money could be increased to 50,000 dollars for the championship to attract more quality players from tennis world. The Local players here have the spirit, they must work harder to make it in the game Nd they equally need to travel to play more tournaments. Governor’s Cup Lagos Tennis is good for Nigerian tennis, ” she said.
She was particularly grateful to the Nigerians who supported her during her matches throughout the weeklong first leg. She said the friendliness of Nigerians thrilled her so much.