Friday’s order of play
Center court
(5) C. Tabur (FRA) vs (3) C. Hemery (FRA) 10:30 am CAT
Followed by
(4) M. Trungelliti (ARG) vs M. Safwat (EGY)
Court 1
D. Wenger (SWISS) vs D. Cukierman (ISR) 10:30 am CAT
Followed by
(Q) K. Majchrzak (POL) vs (Q) S. Kozlov (USA)
Friday’s quarter-final matchup between Frenchmen Calvin Hemery and Clement Tabur promises to be the highlight of Day 5 of Rwanda Challenger Week 2 which is underway at Kigali Ecology Tennis Club.
Hemery (3) is finding his best game at the right time and will be favorite against his fifth seed opponent.
Tabur, who reached the last eight after beating Argentina’s Herman Casanova on Wednesday, admitted, "It is going to be a tough match, Calvin is very dangerous, I will have to be ready, very focused about my game, and the returns."
"He is serving pretty well here, and, yeah, it's pretty tough to play against a (fellow) French player, a friend as well, but I think it's going to be a good match," noted the 24-year old World No. 225.
Hemery, ranked 216 in the world and seeking a second ATP Challenger title, advanced to the quarterfinals when his opponent Corentin Denolly retired sick before the 2nd set, having also lost the first 6-3.
Asked how he rates his chances ahead of the game, Hemery said, "We are all favorites, it's tennis, five, six, eight (the seeded players) can win the tournament.
Only three of the eighth seeded players have reached the last eight of Week 2.
The latest seed to fall was Zimbabwean Benjamin Lock, who lost against American qualifier Stefan Kozlov in three sets 7-6(2), 5-7, 6-4 on center after 3 hours 20 minutes.
Kozlov, 28, will next face Week 1 winner Kamil Majchrzak who beat Austrian David Pichler 6-3, 6-2 in the second round on Thursday.
It is a match that will be closely watched but Kozlov is unfazed by the challenge.
"Today (Thursday) was tough, obviously I had the match point in the second set, he has a good serve, then mentally kind of went away," the world number 706 told Times Sport after his marathon win over Lock.
"In the third set later, I was able to fight and found a way. It is going to be a tough match tomorrow (Friday), I have to play aggressive, smart, and hungry and whoever plays better and wants it more is going to win," he noted.
Elsewhere, Week 1 finalist Marco Trungelliti (4) of Argentina will be up against Mohamed Safwat.
The Egyptian has played Marco twice before and lost both, but he is this time round hoping to change that record.
"I have known Marco for a long time, he is a good player, he has already achieved good results, good ranking. We have played two times already, he has won both but we always have good matches," world number 369 Safwat said.
The 33-year-old added that, "(Our meetings) have always been three-set matches. Tomorrow is going to be a new day and hopefully I am ready for that."
The other match will be between Swiss Damien Wenger and Israeli Daniel Cukierman.
Wenger eliminated Aziz Ouakaa (TUN) in the round of 16. The pair were tied on one set each 3-6, 6-4 and Wenger was ahead 3-0 in the third set before his opponent retired after sustaining a back injury.
His Israeli opponent, Cukierman, defeated American Alafia Ayeni 4-6, 6-0, 7-5 on Thursday.
Wenger, who also won the Rwanda Open M25 Week 1 in September 2023, was excited to improve his performance in week 2 after bowing out of the second round in the first week of the competition.
"I am happy to get the win, too bad it ended like this.. It's never good to end a match with an injury to your opponent."
He admits that ATP Challenger is another level but he looks to do whatever it may cost him to position himself among the best in the ATP 50 Tour.
"(With) the Challenger tournament, the level is higher and I try to win as many matches as possible.. Last week I lost in the second round. This week I am in the quarterfinals, it's already a better result. I will try to continue to play my best tennis for the next match," noted the Swiss player.