Monday singles results G. Pennaforti (ITA) Def I. Gakhov (RUS) 5-7, 6-3, 7-63 D. Cukierman (ISR) Def E. Habiyambere (RWA) 6-1, 7-67 J. Brumm (USA) vs G. Iradukunda (BDI) 6-3, 4-6, 0-0 (suspended due to darkness) Tuesday order of play C. Denolly (FRA) vs H. Casanova (ARG) 10:00AM CAT A. Ouakaa (TUN) vs E. Voisin (FRA) 10:00AM CAT C. Hemery (FRA) vs D. Pichler (AUT) - Not before noon 12:00 CAT S. Kozlov (USA) vs C. Tabur (FRA) - Not Before 11:30 am CAT Rwanda's Ernest Habiyambere insists there is no shame in losing to a better opponent after Monday’s 6-1, 7-67 defeat to Israel’s tennis star Daniel Cukierman in the first round of the ATP Rwanda Challenger 50 Tour at Kigali Ecology Tennis Club. Playing in-front of a partisan crowd, Habiyambere lost the first set 6-1 but did improve and put up a spirited fight in the second set, at some point led 4-1 and the 5-2 before Cukierman prevailed as his vast experience saw him overcome that deficit to win the set 7-67 on a tie-breaker in a match that lasted 1 hour and 53 minutes. These things happen in sports and, (for me), to even be able to push this guy as far as I did, is itself a big achievement, un-ranked Habiyambere said after his loss to the world number 475 Israeli. The Rwandan top seed added that, These are professional players and, honestly, I don't feel like I have lost. I am happy with my performance, it's a good experience to play at this level. Habiyambere, 24, was Rwanda's only player in the ATP Challenger 50 Tour main draw (Week 1) after four of his colleagues failed to go past the qualifying round earlier on Sunday. He entered the tournament on wildcard, same as his compatriot. And there was a shock on the first day as top seed Ivan Gakhov was beaten in three sets by Gabriel Pennaforti. The Russian lost to his Italian opponent 7-5, 3-6, 67-7. In the final qualifying round matches, Noah Schachter (US) beat Nigerian Christopher Bulum 7-6, 6-4 while Luca Fantini won the battle of Italians 7-5, 6-4 against Alessandro Bellifemine. Frenchman Lucas Bouquet beat American Jaycer Lyeons 6-1, 6-3 while Ivan Devison (Russia) defeated Japanese Seita Watanabe in three sets 6-4, 67 -7, 6-4. Another American Alafia Ayeni also beat Sheyngezikhy in three sets 6-4, 3-6, 6-4. Some matches on the first day of the Rwanda Challenger, which is under the ATP Challenger 50 Tour, were either stopped by rain or suspended due to darkness, as a result of the mid-morning rains that affected much of the morning session. Qualifying second round matches that started at 10 o'clock in the morning were halted due to rain, and the groundsmen had their hands full as they worked at full speed to clear the courts. They fixtures delayed for nearly three hours. Because of that delay, play resumed, and yet each of the four courts was scheduled to have three matches. The first and second matches on each court were completed but not two of the four, reached a decisive conclusion. First Round matchup between American Jacob Brumm and Burundian Guy Orly Iradukunda was paused at one set apiece 6-4, 3-6. They will play in the third set, on Tuesday. Another suspended match was the qualifying final between Prston Brown (USA) and L. Bataljin (AUS) 6-4, 5-5, which will also be finished Tuesday morning. Despite weather conditions and being the first day of the working week, there was still a sizeable turn up of tennis enthusiasts who came to witness history being made, as Rwanda became the second on the Sub-Saharan Africa to host an ATP Challenger Tour.
