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Published 30 January 2021
Teenage tennis sensation Oyinlomo Quadre is Nigeria’s undisputed No.1 women’s tennis star at just 17. Ranked 92 in the world junior rankings, the youngster is on a mission to put Nigerian tennis on the global map. She told journalists recently in Lagos about her desire to become the world’s number one women’s singles tennis player. ’TANA AIYEJINA was there
When
did you start playing tennis?
I started playing when I was four and my love for tennis was inspired by my siblings, especially my sister Aminat. Growing up, I was really attached to my sister and I followed her to train at a place called Akagbe, right in front of City Mall, and not so far from the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club, where my dad had a sports shop. Back at Akagbe, my sister’s coach watched me and I guess he saw how much I loved being on the court and how much I enjoyed picking balls for my sister and learning from her. He encouraged me to play and told me that I could start by playing for 30 minutes and that was how I started to develop my skills. Later on, the coach and my dad became members of the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club, so things became much easier for me because I could just practice and train with him.