Rwandan representatives have had an unimpressive show since Rwanda Open M25 despite playing on before the home crowd as neither of the three players managed to qualify from the first round of the tournament. Etienne Niyigena was the first to bow out of the competition, following Tuesday’s 2-0 defeat to French Corentin Denolly at Kigali Ecology Tennis Club before his counterparts Ernest Habiyambere and Junior Hakizumwami were sent packing on Wednesday after poor showing in defeats against India’s Sharma Atharva and Dev Prajwal respectively. READ ALSO: Tennis: Niyigena bows out of Rwanda Open M25 tourney The duo’s unprecedented elimination put an end to Rwanda’s hopes of winning the tournament after all country’s three representatives were knocked out. Habiyambere, who many considered as the favorite to get far, was eliminated after Sharma handed him a 6-1, 6-3 thumping while youngster Hakizumwami struggled in 2-0 (3-6, 0-6) loss at the hands of Dev Prajwal. The trio was among four players granted wild cards to participate the tournament alongside Kenyan Kevin Cheruiyot who was also eliminated from the first round after a 0-6, 1-6 defeat to Egyptian Michael Bassem Sobhy. Elsewhere, Zimbabwean Benjamin Lock came from a set down to beat Burundian ace Guy Orly Iradukunda 1-6, 6-3,6-2 to progress to the next round while American Oliver Crawford, the tournament’s highest ranked player, advanced to the next round after beating Indian Arjun Mahadevan. ALSO READ: Tennis: Rwanda Open M25 due September 4 Rwanda Open M25 will run for two weeks with the first week running from September 4-10, while the second week will take place from September 11-17. All games will take place at Kigali Ecology Tennis Club. Each week will involve 32 players including 20 top ranked players are exempted from preliminary stages due to the fact that they are ranked below 1000 on ITF/ATP ranking while eight others are made to play the preliminary games for them to progress to the first round. Four remaining players are granted wild cards to be included in the competition
