Frenchman Corentin Denolly’s hope of winning Rwanda Challenger 75 were brought to a shocking end by tournament second seed Carlos Sanchez Jover who beat him in two sets 6-3, 6-3 in the first round match held at the IPRC Kigali Ecology Tennis Club courts on Monday, February 24.

Despite showing flashes of brilliance, Denolly struggled to keep up with Sanchez, who advanced to the second round of qualifiers.

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In other matches, Slovakia’s Andrej Martin qualified for the first round after overcoming American Alafia Ayeni in two sets 6-2, 7-6 while Austrian star Neil Oberleitner edged Poland’s Daniel Michalski 6-3, 7-6(4).

Dutch player Guy Den Ouden breezed through with a commanding 6-1, 6-1 win against Poland’s Jasza Szparych, while Czechia’s Zdenek Kolar outclassed Germany’s Adrian Oetzbach 6-3, 6-0. France’s Luka Pavlovic and Czech player Dominik Kellovsky also progressed.

Among the second-round qualifiers, Sanchez Jover was joined by 3rd seed Valentin Royer, fifth seed Lukas Neumayer of France, Dutchman Max Houkes, and second seed Carlos Taberner.

Neumayer had to fight back from a set down to defeat Brazil’s Gabriel Pennaforti 4-6, 6-2, 6-0, while Royer eliminated countryman Maxime Chazal 6-3, 6-4.

Local players struggled to make an impact, with all three Rwandan entrants exiting in the qualifying round on Sunday. Étienne Niyigena fell 6-0, 6-0 to Michalski, while Claude Ishimwe suffered a 6-1, 6-0 loss at the hands of Oberleitner. Joshua Muhire also bowed out after losing 6-1, 6-1 to Ayeni.

The tournament, which runs until March 2, is part of the ATP Challenger 75 series, featuring a $100,000 prize pool (approximately Rwf 140 million).