The Nigeria Tennis Federation ( NTF)  says it is optimistic of Nigeria good outing at the upcoming  2024 Billie Jean King ( BJK) Cup Africa in Kenya in June .

Shammah Makpa, the Secretary General of NTF,  made the call  in an interview in Abuja.

Makpa confidence is charged by the spirit of displayed by the national team  players at the just concluded Africa games in Ghana.
“ Our athletes had a strong showing at the recently finished African Games in Ghana. It was excellent, and we are happy with the players who gave it their all.
“ You can see the players’ professionalism, patriotism, and dedication. We were able to reach the performer podium.
“ During the African Games, over 23 countries competed in the tennis competition, with Nigeria setting a record among those who won medals during the game. That was a decent one, then, ” he said.

He said NTF went with four male and four female players. We  end up having  one sliver and one bronze  medal.
“  We are happy with the players’ performance, they gave a strong showing,” he said.
He said the next agenda of the NTF is to ensure  that we increase the number of competition across the country.

“ We have the 2024 BJK cup Africa coming up in less than two month  from June 10 to June 15.

“ This competition is like the World Cup ,a tournament between national teams in women’s tennis and Nigeria is featuring this year in the Group lll.

“ Our target is to be able to get promotion to the Group ll .With this player, I believe that we will be able to do that.
“ We should be able to do much better even the last BJK Cup Africa  that we went in 2023 ,We finished third in the group.

“ With their performance displayed in  Ghana, this would help them to do well , I strongly believe we’ll have a good outing at  the upcoming 2024 BJK Cup Africa,” he said.
While the  male category, the players will not lack home support in the 2024 Davis Cup Africa Group II qualifying rounds after the country ( Nigeria) secured rights to host the event  to be staged  in Abuja  from July 15 to July 20 .
 “ Our players qualified from Group IV to Group lll of the Davis Cup alongside Ghana, following a superb run in Kigali, Rwanda, in 2023.
“  In this Group ll is  one of the biggest , where players  going to compete with the European countries, that is our target ,” he said.

The reports that six nations will grace the tournament Namibia, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Cote d’Ivoire, Benin and Nigeria (host)
and will be competing for two slots in Group II during the qualifying round.

Also reports that Kenya will host the 2024 BJK Cup Africa Group III for the second consecutive year after pipping Burundi during the bidding process.
Kenya and Burundi were the only countries to bid for the tournament to be staged from June 10 to June  15.

The winner will be promoted to the BJK Cup Europe /Africa Group II tournament in 2025.

12 nations will grace the tournament; Botswana, Burundi, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Tunisia, Uganda, and Zimbabwe.
  
The teams will be split into three pools of four with the top four sides meeting in the semifinals