Canice Abua and Etoro Bassey served tennis enthusiasts, stakeholders and fans at the Package B of the MKO Abiola Stadium, Abuja, the best of the game to become champions in the men’s and women’s singles respectively of the 47th CBN Senior Tennis Championship, which ended at the weekend.

Abua, who was rated number one in the draws for the men’s singles, justified his position with a clinical display that saw his final game opponent, defending champion and tournament seed three, Michael AKpan Emmanuel, scrambling for survival in a game that ended 6-1, 6-2. Saturday’s victory was Abua’s first in the championship.

In the women’s category, teenage sensation Etoro Bassey, defeated Ogunjobi Success 2-1  ( 3-6, 6-0) to lift the women’s singles trophy for the first time.

While Abua, who is a member of the 2026  Nigeria  Davis Cup squad, can be described as a strong and experienced player, who has had several unsuccessful attempts at the title in the past, the same cannot be said of Bassey, an upcoming 18-year-old player trying to cut her teeth in the senior cadre.

Bassey, who was nervous in the first set and committed many unforced errors that cost her the first game 3-6, bounced back to claim the two remaining sets at 6-0, 6-3.

Speaking after his win, Abua dedicated the title to “God for His mercy and making me proud to be who I am.”

He said: “As far as tennis is concerned, this is just the beginning of my reign. But I need to be focused and take each game as they come.

“My next target is the Davis Cup qualifier against Morocco, in which I need to do well for myself and my country.”

In the men’s singles wheelchair category, perennial winner and defending champion,  Adewale  Alex,  who has been ruling the class since the introduction of the wheelchair division in the game years back, defeated Bankole Rasaq 2-0 (6-0, 6-1) to retain his title, while the women’s singles wheelchair trophy went to the defending champion, Usoh Andrea, who defeated beating Enwerem Chika, 2-0 (6-0, 6-1) in the final.

In his address at the grand finale of the championship, Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Yemi  Cardoso, represented by the Acting Director, Corporate Communication Department, Mrs Hakama Sidi Ali, commended the participants for their commitment to the game.

He reaffirmed the apex bank’s commitment to the development of Nigerian youths, adding that the bank will continue to sponsor the yearly championship.