David Ekpenyong and MaryLove Edwards win CBN Senior National Open Tennis Championship

David Ekpenyong and MaryLove Edwards win CBN Senior National Open Tennis Championship

Hassan Abdulsalam 13:13 - 28.05.2023

Winners have emerged at the 45th CBN Senior National Open Tennis Championship in the men's and women's singles.

Winners have emerged at the 45th CBN Senior National Open Tennis Championship in the men's and women's singles.

David Ekpenyong and MaryLove Edwards won the championship in men's and women's singles respectively.

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David Ekpenyong wins first CBN Senior Title Men's singles

The tournament's second-place seed David Ekpenyong won the CBN Senior Open for the first time after Uche Oparaoji, the top seed, and opponent, had to withdraw due to what appeared to be a shoulder injury while behind 6-1, 4-1 in the final.

Ekpenyong made a strong start to the match by winning his first service game. The Davnotch Open champion then closed off the first set with an early break at 3-1.

David Ekpenyong wins first CBN Senior Title Men's singles

After dropping the first game of the second set, Oparaoji requested a medical timeout and left the match in the middle of it.

With the victory, Vemp Open runner-up Ekpenyong, who coincidentally fell to Oparaoji in the final a fortnight earlier, was able to add the Abuja crown to his DavNotch Open triumph.

The 17-year-old said that it was a great victory for him because he was able to exact revenge on his ardent opponent for the earlier loss in the final.

“I am elated and feel very fulfilled having won my first CBN Senior title. It had been my life-long dream to win this title having won the junior U14 category.

“I come here to participate in this tournament every year and also watch people win the final; I always wished it will be me and here I am now holding the much coveted trophy. My opponent is someone I am very much familiar with having played him four times now.

David Ekpenyong

“I also lost to him at the Vemp Open final here two weeks ago and so besides winning my first CBN title, I was also determined and focused on winning today so as to even our head-to-head record."

MaryLove Edwards continued her ruthless efforts to win Women's singles

In the women’s singles event, first seed Edwardscontinued to be ruthless as she defeated the second seed, Aanu Aiyegbusi, 6-2, 6-3, to win Abuja's third consecutive tournament.

The top-ranked female player in the nation having won the 2023 VEMP Open and the DavNotch Tennis Open Championship championships in Abuja prior to this competition.

MaryLove Edwards continued her ruthless efforts to win Women's singles

The number one player breezed through the first set without showing any symptoms of exhaustion, but she needed to rally from 3-0 down in the second set to win the match.

Other Winners

In the men's doubles competition, Albert Bikom and Peter Lawal had to quit after losing 7-5, 4-4, with the scores tied in the second set. Matthew Abamu and Chima Michael paired up to overcome them.

Winners of CBN Senior National Open Tennis Championship

Alex Adewale, the top seed in the men's wheelchair tennis competition, defeated Williams Ukari with remarkable ease in a 6-2, 6-2 victory to win the CBN Open for the 11th time in a row.

Tennis champion from the 45th CBN Senior National Open Championship Kafayat Omisore, the top female player in Nigeria, defeated Kemi Oluwasegun in a tough 7-6 (2), 6-4 match to win the women's title.

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