Bhambri, Svitolina win as second leg serves off

FORMER world junior number one, India's Yuki Bhambri, and former French Junior Open champion, Ukraine's Elina Svitolina, yesterday emerged winners of the first leg of the ongoing Governor's Cup Lagos Tennis Championship holding at the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club, Onikan.Bhambri, an erstwhile Australia Open junior champion, beat South Africa's Ruan Roelofse 7-5, 7-5 in a tension-soaked encounter, the Nick Bolletteri Tennis Academy student digging deep from his reservoir of tricks to win. In the women's singles, Ukraine's Svitolina had an easy 6-4, 6-3 win over unseeded Croatian Donna Vekic to lift the trophy.But despite losing when it mattered most, a joyous Vekic told The Guardian that being her debut at the championship, she was happy to have made the final. The 15-year old Croat said: 'Despite the fact that I lost today's game, I am happy that I got to the final because this is my first time in this tournament and the result is good for me. I think the standard of the tournament is high.'The champion, Svitolina, said winning the first leg made her participation worth the while: 'Today's match is a good one for me and the standard of the championship is high. I am excited to win and I want to commend the organisers with the way they have been treating some of us foreigners,' she said.Meanwhile, the second leg of the $80, 000 prize-money tournament will serve off today with Nigerian players hoping for better outing after a disappointing time in the first leg.The best Nigerian achieved in the first leg was getting to the semi-final stage of the men's doubles event through the duo of Nonso Madueke and Sunday Maku. But their dream of playing in the final was thwarted by India's Karan Rastogi and Vishnu Vardhan.
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