By Andrew Abah, Abuja
Team Nigeria has made a winning start to its campaign at the 2026 Billie Jean King Cup Africa Group III in Botswana, defeating Burundi 2-1 in their opening tie to boost hopes of securing promotion to the World Group II.
The Billie Jean King Cup, regarded as the Women’s World Cup of Tennis, has brought together 12 African nations competing for just two coveted promotion spots to the World Group II, making every match crucial in the race for qualification.
Nigeria’s squad comprises four of the country’s brightest female tennis talents: Barakat Oyinlomo Quadre, Success Ogunjobi, Khadijat Mohammed, and Etoro Bassey. Significantly, all four players are products of the DavNotch National Open Tennis Championship, a testament to the tournament’s growing role in discovering and nurturing elite Nigerian tennis players.
The team’s hard-fought victory over Rwanda reflects the determination and quality within the Nigerian side as they continue their quest to return to higher levels of international women’s team tennis.
With confidence boosted by the opening-day success, Team Nigeria will now shift focus to their remaining group matches, knowing that only the top two nations at the tournament will earn promotion to the World Group II.
The impressive start has further reinforced the growing strength of Nigerian women’s tennis and the effectiveness of grassroots development initiatives that continue to produce players capable of competing successfully on the continental stage.
Tennis stakeholders and fans across the country will be hoping the team sustains its winning momentum and secures one of the two available promotion tickets, thereby bringing further honour to Nigeria on the African tennis scene.
