President of Lagos Lawn Tennis Club, LLTC, Onikan, Rotimi Edu, has tiped his club has waht it takes to host a tennis Grand Slam.
Edu,
whose club has been playing host to the annual Governor’s Cup Lagos
Tennis Championship in the last 15 years, said that if Lagos state could
be hosting the Governor’s Cup without hitches for 15 years running,
then in the next few years, Lagos would be in the best position to host a
Grand Slam.
According the
Edu, the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club, has continually been given facelift
every year with state-of-the-art facilities to meet up with the ITF
standard of hosting international tournament such as Governor’s Cup.
He, however, believes that with the right approach, the club could play host to a Grand Slam championship someday.
“A
few years ago we hosted the Williams Sisters to an exhibition
tournament here and the Governor’s Cup, an international tournament, is
celebrating its 15th edition with us this year. Looking around, you can
see that Lagos is fast becoming one of the emerging mega cities of the
world.
So, if we can do it right, I think the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club,
which can now boast of setting arena for more than 2,500 spectators, can
host a tennis Grand Slam in no distant future. For us to host a Grand
Slams, the club need a lot of improvement which I believe e can do,” he
said.
Speaking about the
added value the Governor’s Cup Tennis has given to Lagos State,
Barrister Edu noted that the championship has boosted the state’s
tourism potentials more than what other sporting events can bring on
board.
“We are talking about
an international tournament where players from more than 30 countries
have been coming to Lagos to feature. These players come here with their
coaches and at times their parents.
“For
those two weeks of the competition, these players and their accompanied
guardians used to spent their hard currencies and do some other
transactions which invariably go a long way to boost our economy.
This
shows how the Governor’s Cup Tennis has been an important tourism
attracting tournament in our sporting calendar,” Barrister Edu said.

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