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Ranking Points, Cash Prizes Up for Grabs at WTT Contender Lagos

Fola Badmus2 months ago2 months ago04 mins

Beyond the allure of the $100,000 prize pool, players at the 2025 WTT Contender Lagos are also chasing valuable ranking points at Africa’s most vibrant WTT Contender Series event, hosted at the Molade Okoya-Thomas Hall, Teslim Balogun Stadium, Lagos. As the qualifying rounds enter Day 2 on Wednesday, July 23, Lagos remains the epicentre of thrilling table tennis action. Winners in each event will earn a substantial 400 ranking points—enough to trigger a significant leap in the global standings. Runners-up will receive 280 points, while semi-finalists and quarter-finalists will take home 140 and 70 points, respectively. All eyes are on Denmark’s Anders Lind and Japan’s Hina Hayata, who headline the Men’s and Women’s Singles events. Both are strong contenders for the top prize in Lagos. Hayata, 25, is widely regarded as the most successful player in the now-retired ITTF Challenge Series, which began in 2017. Known for her exceptional spin on both wings, she is coached by the experienced Daisuka Ishida. Since her breakthrough at the 2021 WTT Star Contender in Doha, Hayata has claimed five WTT Contender titles and a WTT Star Contender crown. Making her debut in Lagos, she aims to add her first African WTT Contender title to her growing list of achievements. On the men’s side, 13-time Danish champion Anders Lind—who has secured six singles titles along with multiple doubles and mixed doubles crowns—returns to Lagos, where he enjoys strong fan support. The 2025 WTT Contender Tunis runner-up sees Lagos as a favourable battleground, thanks to the passionate local crowd that fuels his performances. Meanwhile, the qualifying rounds have been marked by flashes of brilliance and a fair share of unforced errors. Yet, for the determined competitors, the goal remains the same: a coveted spot in the main draw of the singles events, where the sport’s elite await. With only a limited number of slots available, the journey from the qualifiers to the main stage has been anything but easy. Local Nigerian players have featured prominently in both the Men’s and Women’s Singles, joined by fellow African hopefuls, all vying for a breakthrough moment. While some players wrapped up their campaigns on Day 1, the action intensified on Day 2—Wednesday, July 23—as the final contenders for the main draw began to emerge. The spotlight will also shift to the Doubles and Mixed Doubles events, which kick off from the first round. Unseeded pairs will battle for a place among the top teams, hoping to make their mark in the elite rounds of the competition.

Teenager Mensik Denies Djokovic 100th Title in Miami

Fola Badmus6 months ago6 months ago05 mins

Czech teenager Jakub Mensik beat childhood idol Novak Djokovic to win the Miami Open, having come close to withdrawing with a knee injury hours before his first-round match. Mensik, 19, went to the referee’s room to announce his withdrawal before his opener against Roberto Bautista Agut on 20 March, but the official was out for lunch. He then went to the physiotherapist to ask them to fill in paperwork confirming his withdrawal, but was persuaded to stay on. “I couldn’t walk, I couldn’t run,” he said. “I started to treat it, started to take painkillers. Nothing was helping. “I was visiting the referee’s office to say ‘guys, I’m pulling out’, but he was having lunch.” Mensik went to a physiotherapist, who deemed the injury not to be serious and began treatment to enable him to compete. “After a few minutes I started to feel a little relief,” said Mensik, who has risen to a career-high 24th in the world rankings. “I took different painkillers, which helped a little bit. I was like, ‘OK, let’s try it. It’s like 30 minutes before the match. I can walk. I can run. Let’s see’. “Somehow I won the first round and then I had one day off, which of course, for my knee was much better. Day by day the knee was getting better and with that also my game.” Mensik dropped just two sets on his run to the final, which included victories over British number one Jack Draper and fourth seed Taylor Fritz. He clinched a first ATP Tour title with a 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-4) win over Serbia’s Djokovic on a sticky, humid night in Florida. Djokovic, a 24-time Grand Slam champion, had been bidding to become just the third man in the Open era to win 100 singles titles. However, the 37-year-old’s wait will go on after his loss to Mensik, who was just 10 months old when Djokovic won his first title in 2006. Mensik is the ninth-youngest Masters 1000 champion and the third-youngest in Miami after Carlos Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal. He is another rising star in the men’s game, possessing a huge serve and a thumping backhand that has taken him inside the world’s top 50. Djokovic invited Mensik to practice with him after the 2022 Australian Open when he was still a junior, and Mensik said in his winner’s speech that Djokovic was “the reason I am here”. He said: “It’s just crazy and unbelievable what he’s achieving in this sport during long period of the time. “Imagine me in 20 years from now, when I will be 39, playing the finals? I hope so, but it’s crazy to think about it like this.” Fourth seed Djokovic warmly congratulated Mensik at the end of the match and said afterwards: “It hurts me to admit it but you were better. “I wish you the best of luck. Maybe you’ll let me win one of the next times we play.”