Doumbia whips Kobelt to win Tombim Open

Second seeded Sadio Doumbia from France yesterday whipped fellow Frenchman, Floyd Jaimee Kobelt in two straight sets to clinch the Tombim Open of the International ITF World Tennis Tour decided at the Tennis Complex of Abuja National Stadium.

The winner, who said he was bidding bye to ITF Futures to concentrate in ATP tournaments, clinched the first set 6-4 and with his agility and experience, stopped Kobelt at 6-3 in the second set.

“Kobelt has a lot of future and has the chance of playing many finals, and he is capable of winning in a few years to come,” Doumbia said after the match.

The 28-year old Doumbia said the victory would boost his ATP ranking as he was hopeful of clinching the Dayak International Open, which serves off today, as well as next week’s GSL Open.

“After these three tournaments in Nigeria, I must have improved on my ATP ranking, and I will thereafter take my leave of the ITF Futures to focus on ATP tournaments.

“With my current ranking (388) on ATP, and my new position after the tournaments in Nigeria, I should be playing in the Challenger Series,” Doumbia said.

The 19-year old Kobelt said afterwards that fatigue weighed him down. “I was so tired and could not release the strokes to counter Doumbia’s fireworks. He (Doumbia is an experienced player,” Kobelt said.

At the end of the competition, President, Nigeria Tennis Federation (NTF), Dayo Akindoju said efforts were on to increase the number of ITF World Tennis Tour tournaments.

Akindoju said Musa M ohammed’s performance before he was ousted in the first round was an indication that he is a promising player.