Second seed Arthur Gea has booked his place in the quarterfinals of the ATP Challenger 100 tournament in Kigali, setting up a rematch against Italy’s Stefano Napolitano, who defeated him in last week’s semifinal during the first leg of the Challenger series.

The second-round match, played on Thursday at IPRC Kigali Ecology Tennis Club, saw Gea progress with little trouble after his opponent Sean Cuenin retired due to illness.

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The French youngster had already taken control of the match, winning the opening set 6-1, before Cuenin informed the umpire that he could not continue, handing Gea a direct passage to the last eight.

Gea, 20, had to wait until late in the evening to learn his next opponent, as Napolitano battled through a demanding three-set encounter against Austria’s Maximilian Neuchrist.

The Italian, who finished runner-up at last week’s ATP Challenger 75 event in Kigali, eventually secured the victory 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-1.

In another second-round clash, Filip Cristian Jianu defeated Eero Vasa 6-3, 7-6(5), while fifth seed Zdenek Kolar delivered one of the most dominant performances of the day, cruising past Corentin Denolly 6-1, 6-2 to reach the quarterfinals.

Friday’s quarterfinal schedule promises high-level action, with top seed Marco Trungellitti set to face Max Houkes, the 2025 Rwanda Open champion.

Trungellitti advanced after surviving a tough three-set battle against Jonas Forejtek, winning 7-6(0), 4-6, 7-6(5) in one of the most thrilling matches of the round.

Elsewhere, eighth seed Marco Cecchinato will take on experienced Slovak Andrej Martin, the finalist of the 2024 ATP Challenger 75 in Kigali, in another highly anticipated encounter.

The remaining quarterfinal will see Filip Cristian Jianu face fifth seed Zdenek Kolar, with a place in the semifinals at stake as the tournament enters its decisive stage.