Wilson Igbinovia on Saturday scaled through the final stages with a stunning comeback to emerge winner in the Men’s Singles event of the 2nd DavNotch Open Tennis Championship in Abuja.
Igbinovia who performed wonderfully had been trailing his opponent, Peter Lawal at the end of the first set before bouncing back to pull a stunning 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 comeback victory at the end of a pulsating encounter.
It was a case of being a third time lucky for the 18-year-old Igbinovia who tried but failed on two consecutive occasions to win a major tournament after qualifying for the finals.
Igbinovia, arguably Nigeria’s hottest junior at the moment, narrowly lost 7-5, 6-3 to Joseph Imeh in the Dala Hard Court tennis championship final in Kano in Nov. 2021.
He also was unlucky in the inaugural Jome National Senior Open Tennis Championship at the Sam Ogbemudia Stadium, Benin City losing 7-6, 6-4 to Henry Atseye in the final.
He came into the game with so much anxiety as he hoped to put an end to his losing run in the final.
Lawal on the other hand appeared to have his nerves in check as he quickly went on the front foot, employing an aggressive approach in the first set to take it 6-3.
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Igbinovia however shook off the early nerves and got his game back on track as he regained control in the second set to take it 6-4.
A physically exhausted Lawal tried very hard to push himself to the limit and hold serve in the third set but it wasn’t to be as a fired up Igbinovia breezed past him for a 6-2 victory to complete a stunning comeback win.
“I am so excited to have finally broken the jinx and end my losing run in the final,” an elated Igbinovia told NAN after the match.
“At the beginning I was very tense and didn’t play very good tennis.
“It was a psychological thing for me because I could tell my opponent was all pumped up and the feeling of having to lose a third final was all in my head.
“I desperately needed to respond positively, get the negative feelings off my mind and play my game and that was exactly what I did and I am glad it worked very well for me in the end.
“I’m sure my dad will be really proud of me, particularly with the way I was able to put my feelings under control and handle the situation with a positive attitude, instead of getting mad at myself as I usually would,” he said.
Results of another event’s final saw Oyinlomo Quadri emerge winner of the Women’s Singles final after Aanu retired at the end of the first set (6-0 rtd.) due to injury.