By John Egbokhan

AFTER winning the women’s singles title of the Lagos Open Futures, Pranjala Yadlapalli has set her sights on claiming the top prize in the ongoing Futures 5 holding at the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club, Onikan.

In fact, she wants to emulate fellow Indian player, Sania Mirza, who played at this same tournament, when it was then known as the Lagos Governor\s Cup Tennis,, and won the singles title, before progressing to play in the WTA Tour and Grand Slam. Mirza is undoubtedly, the most recognizable face in Indian tennis history., playing in Grand Slam final

Yadlapalli,, who was the sixth seed in the first leg, with a world ranking of 395, turned the book on its head, upsetting Swiss top seed Conny Perrin in three sets 2-6,7-5,6-0 game, to the delight of the watching crowd at the Lord Rumens Centre Court
Playing in Lagos for the first time, Yadlapall was excited with her victory against three-time champion, Perrin but has refused to lower her guards in this week’s tournament.

“I want to repeat this feat in the second week and I believe I can do it,” Yadlapalli said.

On comparisons with Mirza, Yadlapal said it was nice to be compared with the former, who she claims has been a source of inspiration for many upcoming tennis players from India.

‘’She is a good role model to aspire to be like and I hope that I can follow her footsteps by winning this second week in Lagos’’, she said.