The 2026 Zenith Bank Team Tennis Tournament served off at the Lagos Country Club, Ikeja, headlined by a major opening-round upset.
Former Ikoyi Club tennis chairman Akeem Mustafa scored an early victory at the 2026 Zenith Bank Team Tennis Tournament, beating current chairman Victor Onyenkpa 6-3 on opening day.
The tournament kicked off Monday evening at the Ikoyi Club courts in Lagos, with players split into different bank-sponsored teams to face off in a round-robin format.
Playing for the Zenith Aspire Group, Mustafa put on an exciting performance to defeat Onyenkpa in a thrilling match that kept the crowd on the edge of their seats as both players fought hard to win points for their teams.
In the group stage, teams compete across nine total matches to decide the winner but starting from the semi-finals, matches will switch to a traditional best-of-three sets format.
Players have been split into different teams named after bank services such as Diaspora Banking, Prestige Banking, Scan to Pay, Zenith Easy Banking and Zenith Aspire.
In another match, Zenith Aspire’s Azubuike Okonkwo beat Zenith Easy Banking’s Hilary Eledu.
Meanwhile, Kalada Kienka of Diaspora Banking cruised to an easy 9-0 win over Emeka Azinge from Prestige Banking Red.
In the Blue Group, Pascal Ebhohimen narrowly beat Uzor Nwankwo 5-4 in a tight match while Thomas Ighodalo scored an easy 8-1 win over Jide Ntephe.
Onyenkpa praised the high level of play on day one and said he expects the matches to get even tougher and more exciting as the tournament goes on.
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“I am impressed with what we have seen on the opening day. The players have shown good competitive spirit and I am optimistic that the tournament will get even better in the coming days,” Onyenkpa said.
With several closely contested matches already producing excitement, attention now turns to the remaining group-stage fixtures as players battle for points and places in the knockout rounds.
