Italian tennis player Stefano Napolitano bounced back to defeat Austrian Joel Schwaerzler 7-6(13), 7-6(4) in the first round of the Rwanda Challenger 100 at IPRC-Kigali Ecology Tennis Club on Tuesday.

The victory came just 48 hours after Schwaerzler defeated Napolitano in the final of the first week of the ATP Challenger tournament in Kigali.

Tuesday’s encounter, which started late in the afternoon, turned into another tightly contested battle between the two rivals.

ALSO READ: Schwaerzler defeats Napolitano to lift first Challenger title in Kigali

Napolitano had to dig deep in the opening set, which went into a marathon tie-break. The Italian eventually edged it 15-13 after saving multiple set points.

The second set followed a similar pattern, with both players holding serve throughout to force another tie-break. This time, Napolitano kept his composure and sealed it 7-4 to complete a straight-sets victory.

Despite the turnaround, Napolitano dismissed the idea that the match was about revenge, describing the rematch as simply another opportunity to test himself.

"It was a chance to play him again, and this time it went my way. It was a very tough match again with a similar score to the final, but a few points went my way,” he told Times Sport.

Elsewhere in the tournament, Burundian player Guy Orly Iradukunda, the only East African to reach the main draw, suffered a heavy defeat after losing 6-0, 6-2 to former world No.16 Marco Cecchinato.

Fourth seed Jay Clarke of Britain came from a set down to beat Maik Steiner 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-3. Meanwhile, third seed Roberto Carballes Baena was eliminated after losing a closely contested match 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(3) to Eero Vasa.

Elsewhere, Rwanda Open M25 champions Max Houkes and Corentin Denolly put their Challenger 75 disappointment behind them and opened their Challenger 100 campaigns with first-round wins.

Houkes advanced to the second round after coming from a set down to defeat Luka Pavlovic 4-6, 6-2, 6-2. He will next face Poland’s Alexander Donski, who beat Garrett Johns 7-6(4), 7-6(9).

Denolly also progressed after beating Eliakim Coulibaly 6-4, 6-3.

In other matches, Cristian Jianu defeated Ryan Nijboer 7-6(5), 7-5, while Sandro Kopp beat Calvin Hemery 6-4, 6-1.

Wednesday’s Order of Play

Center Court

10:00 am – Marco Trungelliti vs Jonas Forejtek

Followed by – Marco Cecchinato vs Sandro Kopp

Court 1

10:00 am – Andrej Martin vs Jay Clarke

Court 2

10:00 am – Alexander Donski vs Max Houkes