N11m for grabs as CBN Senior Tennis serves off in Lagos

Over 300 tennis players from all parts of the country will feature in the 39th annual Central Bank of Nigeria Senior tennis tournament that serves off in Lagos today at the tennis courts of the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos.

The Acting Director, Corporate Communications Department of CBN, Mr. Isaac Okorafor said N11, 248, 000 (eleven million, two hundred and forty eight thousand naira) has since been set aside as prize money for winners in both men and women categories as well as the wheelchair division

He added that winners of both the men and women’s singles categories will smile home with N700, 000 each, while the runners up in both categories will get N500, 000 each.

There will be action in men’s singles round of 64 with four wild cards already given and women’s singles round of 32 where only two wild cards were allocated.

New champions must emerge this year as both the men’s singles and women’s singles defending champions, Moses Michael, who has travelled to the United States of America and Russian-based Melissa Ifidzhen, who is writing her examinations, will not be part of the competition that runs from May 25 to June 3 2017.

Okorafor stressed that CBN’s continuous sponsorship of senior tennis is in line with its resolve to continue to promote and develop tennis in the country.

Meanwhile, the secretary general of the Nigerian Tennis Federation, Mariam Akande has pleaded with the players to ensure that they observed the general rules of the game, knowing that the CBN is the biggest tennis tournament in the country.