ABUJA, April 24, 2018

The ITF Pro Circuit has returned to Nigeria for three $25,000 Futures tournaments held on hard courts in Abuja. Joao Menezes of Brazil clinched his first title of the season, winning the fourth edition of the Tombim Abuja Open.

The 21-year-old right-hander defeated top seed Markus Eriksson from Sweden in Saturday’s singles final 6-2, 6-4. Menezes, who only dropped one set en route to the title, broke his opponent five times to prevail after one hour and 10 minutes.

“I think I got lucky today with some shots, which was key of the match. I am just happy to win this tournament here in Abuja,” Menezes told after lifting his fourth ITF Pro Circuit career trophy, his first of the season.

“He was the better player today,” Eriksson had to admit. “Nonetheless, I had a good run here, finishing runner-up in singles and winning the doubles title. I am happy right now and I will come back even better next week.”

Eriksson/Neuchrist take the doubles title

On Friday, the 28-year-old Swede teamed up with Maximilian Neuchrist of Austria to capture the doubles crown. The No. 2 seeds battled past the all-French-combination of Remi Boutillier and Tom Jomby 6-3, 4-6, 15-13. The final lasted one hour and 18 minutes.

“It was such a tight match. We need to save match points and came back, which makes it a very sweet win in the end. I will probably remember this for a very long time,” Neuchrist commented.

The organizers of the event were pleased with the last seven days at Tennis Club Abuja. “It was a very successful tournament,” tournament director Ikani Agabi stated. “A lot of positives things happened during this week.”