Idoko ready for Maputo battle

In an exclusive chat with Feverpitch during one of the training sessions at the tennis courts at the package B of the Abuja National Stadium, he expressed readiness to do the country proud. “Let me say a lot. Honestly a lot. We have been in camp for more than two months.  Me and my friend […]

In an exclusive chat with Feverpitch during one of the training sessions at the tennis courts at the package B of the Abuja National Stadium, he expressed readiness to do the country proud.

“Let me say a lot. Honestly a lot. We have been in camp for more than two months.  Me and my friend Onyeka, we just came in from Holland as part of our preparations. Honestly, there is a lot to be expected from me and the team.

“Like I said earlier we have been training together for over two months. It has really been impressive preparations as you can see.  Warming up like this is already is very good because everybody is sweaty and ready to go. Personally, going by the tournaments I have played this year in Europe, combined with my experience, I am just optimistic that I would give a good account of myself in Maputo.

Although the proposed foreign training tour did not see the light of day, Idoko said his responsibility is not to explain what led to the cancellation of the training tours but to go out on court and win something for his country.

“Honestly, I wouldn’t want to comment much on this because I was not part of those who took that decision. And honestly, I don’t want to be part of it because I have my own responsibility as an international player. My responsibility is to go out on court and win something for the country. If I can inspire confidence in my team mates, that would be great as well.

The lanky tennis player was however not happy with the country for its inability to float tennis academies that would give early training to talented youngsters in the sport.

“Most of the times when I am asked questions like this; I don’t really enjoy it because I have been talking about this for a while now. It has to be a collective effort from everyone, especially the Nigeria Tennis Federation.  We should be ready to join hands together in order to make it work, maybe not for guys like us but for the younger ones who are really talented. Why don’t you invest, groom them, take them out of the country for more exposure?. It doesn’t cost anything for a country like Nigeria. I mean it would not cost anything but what is happening is not encouraging.

“I am 24 and already in Holland. So for me it does not really matter. However, for those guys who are 14, 16, who are really talented like Onyeka here, it doesn’t cost the country anything to set up quality tennis academies. Unfortunately, you have people asking, men, when can we see a Nigerian guy in the Grand Slam, when is it going to be?. It can’t happen by accident. It has to do with good planning. When you don’t do anything, how are you going to see a guy there? So I don’t like talking about it because even when you do, it doesn’t change anything”.