As the Queen rules

On September 7, 2014, tennis lovers all over the world, yet again celebrated Serena Williams, as she clinched her 18th grand slam title and her 6th US open title in New York. Without mincing words Serena is phenomena. Even the commentator testified to this when he said: “she is a standard". This lady who would be 33 in the next couple of weeks is just such a pride to the game of Tennis.

That draws me back home to Nigeria and I ponder over the question of who the best tennis player are?  Where do they go to when tournaments like these take place? What does the body in charge of tennis in Nigeria do to improve the lot of game in Nigeria?
Is this just my imagination? Is Nigeria not big enough to produce stars amongst the comity of Nations not just because of our population but for the sheer number of talents that abound in the country?

For example, South Africa which lost its biggest economy badge to Nigeria a couple of months back has Kevin Anderson who is amongst the 20 world top tennis players, that is with a population just about one third of Nigeria's!
So why Nigeria with its enormous talents failed to have its name on the list of the world’s greatest?

I have been in a conversation with an enthusiastic tennis player in the city of Abuja in the past couple of days and it is sad that she confirmed by fears that authorities in Nigeria and most of the continent are talent killers,
For example,  the Nigeria Tennis Federation is said to have organized only one tournament this year. Those events held in the month of May after which our tennis players have not had any serious challenge. What do we then expect players to do for the remaining part of the year.

To maintain their fitness and develop their skills, I understand that a lot of players do through strenuous personal efforts without an iota of recognition from Federation.
The player I spoke with, who has played professionally since 1999 spoke about a number of talents whom she has encountered in her career but the refusal of the authorities to take the game seriously has made them all frizzle out.

As a nation, we need start investing in people. Imagine a population of 170 million peoples total missing from major global competitions from Australia, Beijing, France, England and now the US, we missing out to stamp our name in tennis. It is to my mind, a disservice to the resilient and dynamic spirit of Nigerians.
We should start by improving on the existing platforms for tennis, increase the number and frequency of tournaments and get to the grassroots to raise more talents. I think Nigeria is just too blessed for this inertia.

The National Sports Commission and sports bodies in the state  must do something serious about developing other sports without necessarily affecting the obvious love that we all have for football.