A strong lineup is expected at the 2026 Zenith Bank Next Generation Masters, which serves off at the newly refurbished Mainland Tennis Club at the National Stadium Surulere on Tuesday.

The tournament is for the eight players, men and women, who are considered, in the opinion of the International Tennis Academy (ITA), the organisers of the Masters, to have made the most remarkable improvement in transiting to the senior ranks.

According to the director of the ITA, Godwin Kienka, “Our selections have been very objective and thorough, and the players, men and women, in the top five of our seniors currently, have been winners, runners-up or semifinalists in the last five years.

“Now all the good intermediate players are fighting to be a part of the tournament by doing well at the preceding senior tournaments. They know we prepare them psychologically to do well at the seniors.”

Itoro Bassey of the GEUF Tennis Academy, Uyo, and Abuja-based Canice Abua, who are dominating at the senior level currently in the women’s and men’s respectively, were runner-up and winner respectively four years ago.