Tennis champions Venus and Serena Williams have indicated their readiness to face each other in a historical exhibition match at the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club on Friday.
The sisters, who have 22 Grand Slam titles between them, are in the state, courtesy of Connect Marketing, to inspire the girl-child in the Nigerian society on achieving goals and setting targets through a programme themed Breaking The Mould.
The siblings paid a courtesy call on Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola on Wednesday before featuring in a tennis clinic for children at the Ikoyi Club where no fewer than 240 children participated.
The older of the sisters, Venus, said she expects Serena to give her a tough game on Friday.
“Serena and I are so excited to be here. We’ve played so many finals in Wimbledon and everywhere but I don’t know who’s going to win in the final in Nigeria. I know it’ll be a good match, just like any other championship. I know she (Serena) is ready and I’m going to do my best in the game,” Venus said.
“More than anything, it’s going to be great to play in front of the crowd. There’s been so much excitement before we came here, so it makes us feel welcomed.”
She added, “This is the first time for me to be in Nigeria. I’m looking forward to meeting so many people on this tour. It feels great to be part of a wonderful initiative like Breaking The Mould. I’m looking forward to meeting some of the women in Nigeria because I feel we have so much to contribute.”
Serena, who has been to Kenya twice before, admitted she was seeing Lagos for the second time.
“I’m really excited to come to Nigeria, it’s an honour. I’ve actually been to Nigeria before, it was my first time in Africa, many years back. I was travelling with my sister and my mother, and the plane had to stop over in Lagos. We didn’t get off the plane but we looked out of the window and said to ourselves, ‘We finally made it to Africa’. We were a bit disappointed because we didn’t get off the plane,” Serena said.
“This is however my first trip to Nigeria and I feel honoured. What makes this trip very special is that we’re doing something different. We’re here on a tour of the country and also enlighten the women and the young girls to understand their importance. We believe it’s okay for young girls to have dreams and be inspired to achieve their goals.”
The sisters will be visiting two secondary schools in Ikoyi on Thursday.
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