Good to know he is still alive. We were doing just fine,we had lord rumens,ogbe and other tennis completions until IBB came and killed Nigeria with his IMF loans that devalued living standards

Nduka was a national hero and an inspiration to us growing up in the 1970s. A living legend in Nigerian sports

naptu2:


Read this thread to find out more about the golden era of tennis in Nigeria.

Throwback: When Pele And Arthur Ashe Were Caught Up In A Nigerian Coup.

The Duke was popular in the 80s and early 90s. I first read about him in
the West Africa magazine. I wonder why Nigerians no longer play at the opens. We've become like those backward Arab countries such as Afghanistan, Iran and Sudan. When they show you clips of these countries in the 60s and 70s you see modernization and freedom of expression from dressing style to music and sports. Today people are no longer free in those countries.
Nigerian government funded sports a lot in those days, not only football like they do today. But tennis, boxing, athletics, etc. There's Hope Sha. We have a lot of upcoming tennis and athletics stars these days. Oyinlomo Quadre and marylove Edwards are examples.

Nduka Odizor in his own words (continued)Nduka Odizor in his own words (continued)...

Hero

Ok

Happiest active and sweetest birthday, the legendary Nduka Odiozor

naptu2:
Today is Nigerian tennis legend, Nduka Odizor's 64th birthday.

Nduka "The Duke" Odizor is a Nigerian tennis legend. He is the last Nigerian to get to (and beyond) the second round of any grandslam tournament. He is also the only Nigerian to play on centre court at Wimbledon.

Nduka Odizor grew up in Maroko, a large slum that was near Victoria Island in Lagos. He attended Edward Blydon Memorial Primary School at Okesuna on Lagos Island. He sometimes worked as a ball boy at Ikoyi Club and Lagos Lawn Tennis Club. It was there that his interest in tennis grew. He once said that he was so poor, but he loved tennis so much, that he was faced with a decision of whether he should buy akara to eat (because he was very hungry) or go to the National Stadium by bus to watch tennis and he chose trek from Lagos Lawn Tennis Club to the stadium because he was going to be there all day and so he also had to eat.

He attended the famous New Era secondary school in Benin City. Governor Samuel Ogbemudia of the Mid-West State established the school as a centre of excellence for sportsmen and women, so that they can get an education and play sports, but Odizor said that the system broke down after Ogbemudia left office and the school began admitting "anybody". Odizor played at the National Sports Festival and for the Nigerian National Team while he was still a teenager.

I had a neighbour who was a Nigerian tennis legend in the 1950s and 1960s. He was also very close to the Americans. This was during the Cold War when the Americans and Russians were competing for influence around the world. In the 1970s (after he had retired), my neighbour told the Americans that tennis was getting very popular in Nigerian and that they could create a good feeling towards Americans if they invested in Nigerian tennis. (This was revealed in the diplomatic papers that were released by Wikileaks).

The US Embassy got some American tennis players to participate at the Ogbe Hard Court tournamen (at the Ogbe Stadium in Benin). They got Pepsi/7up to sponsor the tournament. They also held many tennis clinics in Nigeria.

A visiting American professor called Dr Robert Wren saw Nduka Odizor playing at one of the USAID tennis clinics in the 1970s. He offered to sponsor Odizor's education in the United States. Odizor finished his secondary school education at St Thomas High School, Houston. He also attended the University of Houston, where he graduated with a degree in Business Marketing and Finance in 1981.

Wimbledon

Nduka "The Duke of Wimbledon" Odizor played at Wimbledon for the very first time in 1975. He played in the junior tournament on that occasion. He played in the senior tournament in 1982 and got to the second round before he was beaten by Swedish legend, Mats Wilander. However, it was his appearance at Wimbledon in 1983 that made waves.

Odizor got to the fourth round at Wimbledon in 1983 and he was just one victory away from the quarter-final when he was beaten by Chris Lewis of New Zealand.

Racism

Odizor said that he was given police protection by Scotland Yard when he played at Wimbledon because skin heads and other racist groups sent death threats to him. He said that police officers had to follow him where ever he went.

He also said that he suffered from racism many times on the tour. Some people would not want to share locker rooms with him, some wouldn't want to practice with him and some wouldn't want to play doubles with him.

He said that the problem of racism did not only exist abroad. He said that some Nigerians in Nigeria were also affected by it. For example, he said that he was very angry when he watched a Nigerian tennis star lose to an Ethiopian at the All Africa Games in Lagos in 1973. He said that he believed that even he, as a kid, could have beaten the Ethiopian and that the problem was that the Nigerian believed that the Ethiopian was better simply because of his lighter skin.

Australian Open

Odizor also got to the third round of the Australian Open in 1985, where he lost to American legend, John McEnroe. This match has gone into tennis history books because of a little trick that Odizor played. He surprised McEnroe by serving a underarm drop shot that earned him an ace. McEnroe was so surprised that he did not even move.

US Open

Odizor also got to the third round of the US Open on two occasions, 1985 and 1987.

He was not as succesful in the French Open, where he lost in the first round in 1986.

Titles

Nduka Odizor won singles titles in Lagos, Taiwan and Benin. He also won doubles titles in Monterrey (Mexico), Dallas, Tokyo and Sydney. He won 28 titles overall, including in Taipei, Lagos, Thessaloniki, Monterey, Tokyo, Forest hills in New York City, Benin City, etc.

His highest singles ranking was number 52 in the world in 1984 and number 20 in the doubles.

Nigerian National Team

He was part of Nigeria's Davis Cup team that played in the Euro-Africa Zone Group 1 (just below the World Group. We got to the quarter final of that group in 1988 and 1989). He also represented Nigeria at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea.

After retirement

He established the DOIT Foundation after retiring and he has returned to Nigeria many times to run tennis clinics and to teach Nigerian children how to play the game.

Awesome post @naptu2. You've done it again.

That's an insightful piece on the man from Delta State, Nduka "the
Duke" like we used to call him for short.

His Wimbledon participation outrightly stimulated more interest in lawn tennis, just like Hakeem "the Dream" Olajuwon of the Houston Rockets did for the promotion of basketball in Nigeria and the world from the 1980s.

I was just thinking of some of the sports legends we had back in the 1980s a few days ago and the 1984
Summer Olympics in Los Angeles that was beamed live to us on NTA with that signature theme song of the 1984 Olympics ringing in my ears.

Ajayi Agbebakun, the jerry curled
Innocent Egbunike, Peter
Konyegwachi in boxing and more were at the event.

The Commonwealth medalist from the 1960s, Modupe Osikoya (who has a street named after her next to the Bar beach on Victoria Island, Lagos) is still alive and has been based on the West Coast of the U.S. for years with her daughter. Manny
Onumonu the broadcast veteran interviewed her about 2 years ago.


A truly nostalgic thread!


Cc: Sukkot will like this thread.
Oya pull over!

AlphaTaikun:

Awesome post @naptu2. You've done it again.

That's an insightful piece on the man from Delta State, Nduka "the
Duke" like we used to call him for short.

His Wimbledon participation outrightly stimulated more interest in lawn tennis, just like Hakeem "the Dream" Olajuwon of the Houston Rockets did for the promotion of basketball in Nigeria and the world from the 1980s.

I was just thinking of some of the sports legends we had back in the 1980s a few days ago and the 1984
Summer Olympics in Los Angeles that was beamed live to us on NTA with that signature theme song of the 1984 Olympics ringing in my ears.

Ajayi Agbebakun, the jerry curled
Innocent Egbunike, Felix
Konyegwachi in boxing and more were at the event.

The Commonwealth medalist from the 1960s, Modupe Osikoya (who has a street named after her next to the Bar beach on Victoria Island, Lagos) is still alive and has been based on the West Coast of the U.S. for years with her daughter. Manny
Onumonu the broadcast veteran interviewed her about 2 years ago.


A truly nostalgic thread!


Cc: Sukkot will like this thread.
Oya pull over!

Thank you.

I've created lots of threads about that Los Angeles '84 team, but the anti-spam bot kept attacking my thread about the weightlifters.

This is the thread about Peter Konyegwachie https://www.nairaland.com/3862043/throwback-peter-konyegwachie-wins-silver

I also wrote about many of the stars (and tried to recreate my thread about the weightlifters) on this thread https://www.nairaland.com/6328463/how-many-these-nigerian-sports

AlphaTaikun:

Awesome post @naptu2. You've done it again.

That's an insightful piece on the man from Delta State, Nduka "the
Duke" like we used to call him for short.

His Wimbledon participation outrightly stimulated more interest in lawn tennis, just like Hakeem "the Dream" Olajuwon of the Houston Rockets did for the promotion of basketball in Nigeria and the world from the 1980s.

I was just thinking of some of the sports legends we had back in the 1980s a few days ago and the 1984
Summer Olympics in Los Angeles that was beamed live to us on NTA with that signature theme song of the 1984 Olympics ringing in my ears.

Ajayi Agbebakun, the jerry curled
Innocent Egbunike, Felix
Konyegwachi in boxing and more were at the event.

The Commonwealth medalist from the 1960s, Modupe Osikoya (who has a street named after her next to the Bar beach on Victoria Island, Lagos) is still alive and has been based on the West Coast of the U.S. for years with her daughter. Manny
Onumonu the broadcast veteran interviewed her about 2 years ago.


A truly nostalgic thread!


Cc: Sukkot will like this thread.
Oya pull over!

hehe the duke. Nigeria is blessed. We have had and still have great sportsmen and women. Do you remember daley Thompson?

sukkot:
hehe the duke. Nigeria is blessed. We have had and still have great sportsmen and women. Do you remember daley Thompson?

I remember that my mum didn't like him at all because he represented Great Britain.

Since this guy left the scene Nigeria has not had a serious tennis player

AlphaTaikun:

Awesome post @naptu2. You've done it again.

That's an insightful piece on the man from Delta State, Nduka "the
Duke" like we used to call him for short.

His Wimbledon participation outrightly stimulated more interest in lawn tennis, just like Hakeem "the Dream" Olajuwon of the Houston Rockets did for the promotion of basketball in Nigeria and the world from the 1980s.

I was just thinking of some of the sports legends we had back in the 1980s a few days ago and the 1984
Summer Olympics in Los Angeles that was beamed live to us on NTA with that signature theme song of the 1984 Olympics ringing in my ears.

Ajayi Agbebakun, the jerry curled
Innocent Egbunike, Felix
Konyegwachi in boxing and more were at the event.

The Commonwealth medalist from the 1960s, Modupe Osikoya (who has a street named after her next to the Bar beach on Victoria Island, Lagos) is still alive and has been based on the West Coast of the U.S. for years with her daughter. Manny
Onumonu the broadcast veteran interviewed her about 2 years ago.


A truly nostalgic thread!


Cc: Sukkot will like this thread.
Oya pull over!

It's Peter not Felix.

sukkot:
hehe the duke. Nigeria is blessed. We have had and still have great sportsmen and women. Do you remember daley Thompson?

Oh yeah, Daley Thompson the great decathlete with a Nigerian father of Yoruba descent and a white British mother. Lol.

I'm even very proud that 'Tobi Amusan set a new world record in the 100 metres hurdles event in July 2022. Her story and journey from Ogun State to Texas was truly stellar!

sukkot:
hehe the duke. Nigeria is blessed. We have had and still have great sportsmen and women. Do you remember daley Thompson?

Oh yeah, Daley Thompson the great decathlete with a Nigerian father of Yoruba descent and a white British mother. Lol.

I'm even very proud that 'Tobi Amusan set a new world record in the 100 metres hurdles event in July 2022. Her story and journey from Ogun State to Texas for
further studies as a student athlete was truly stellar!

SavageResponse:


It's Peter not Felix.

@SavageResponse, thanks for the headsup! My subconcious mind was nudging me to check the name again before posting. I'll correct it right away.

Introducing the iconic 1984
Olympian, Peter Konyegwachi! Lol.

naptu2:


Thank you.

I've created lots of threads about that Los Angeles '84 team, but the anti-spam bot kept attacking my thread about the weightlifters.

This is the thread about Peter Konyegwachie https://www.nairaland.com/3862043/throwback-peter-konyegwachie-wins-silver

I also wrote about many of the stars (and tried to recreate my thread about the weightlifters) on this thread https://www.nairaland.com/6328463/how-many-these-nigerian-sports

That's mad cool @naptu2.

I trust you to always document these iconic events. I've been a member of NL for 17 years now as of 2022 with an older account and no one comes close to you in historical documentation. I don't know how you do it man... You must be on positive steroids.


Cheers.

Odizor, nicknamed "the Duke" by the press, Ogbe Hard Court Benin!

Odizor.

I believe that he's referring to the Lagos Open (Lord Rumens Classics) at the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club.

There were three big tournaments then, the Lagos Open, the Ogbe Hard Court (at Ogbe Stadium in Benin) and the Dala Hard Court at the Kano Club.

AlphaTaikun:

Oh yeah, Daley Thompson the great decathlete with a Nigerian father of Yoruba descent and a white British mother. Lol.

I'm even very proud that 'Tobi Amusan set a new world record in the 100 metres hurdles event in July 2022. Her story and journey from Ogun State to Texas for
further studies as a student athlete was truly stellar!

she is amazing. It’s funny cuz I never heard of her till a month ago. I don’t follow sports anymore

sukkot:
she is amazing. It’s funny cuz I never heard of her till a month ago. I don’t follow sports anymore

Really? I heard of 'Tobiloba about 4 years ago... But Blessing Okagbare was in ascendancy then but now she has been banned for alleged use of performance-enhancing drugs.

I do not follow soccer anymore since the early 2000s and I have peace of mind, devoid of any potential heart attacks. Lol.

The Nigerian soccer dream team to the USA 1994 event was one of the finest. Things went south after that year ('94), and those boys started playing nonsense in subsequent years so I had to tune off from soccer.

I prefer golf, basketball, scrabble, chess, track and field athletics, archery, etc.


Cheers!

AlphaTaikun:

Really? I heard of 'Tobiloba about 4 years ago... But Blessing Okagbare was in ascendancy then but now she has been banned for alleged use of performance-enhancing drugs.

I do not follow soccer anymore since the early 2000s and I have peace of mind, devoid of any potential heart attacks. Lol.

The Nigerian soccer dream team to the USA 1994 event was one of the finest. Things went south after that year ('94), and those boys started playing nonsense in subsequent years so I had to tune off from soccer.

I prefer golf, basketball, scrabble, chess, track and field athletics, archery, etc.


Cheers!

yeah to be honest with you i have tuned off all sports except for once in a while boxing if it involves people i like eg anthony joshua . truth be told i dont own a TV and havent owned one for over 10 years. am internet all day lol. no time for TV. youtube is my addiction. yeah that 1994 team ws something else. i was in chicago back then. i remember the american reporters like ahmad rashad gushing over the nigerian dream team back then lol