American youngster, Tristan Stringer, on Friday, 18 February, won the ITF Junior Tournament (boys’ singles) after beating India’s Pranav Karthik 2-0 (6-2 7-6 (5) in the final at Integrated Polytechnic Regional College (IPRC-Kigali) tennis grounds in Kicukiro. “I feel great because it feels amazing to win the final match. He (Pranav Karthik) is a phenomenal player who really controls the game so well. He’s an all-round good player,” Stringer told Times Sports after the win. “I was going to play the next tournament here but I feel my body has given in. For now, I am taking one match at a time until I get my body back in shape,” he added. In the girls’ single’s final, Egypt’s Mariam Ibrahim emerged victorious after overcoming France’s India Fenieys, 6-3 7-5 in the final match played at the same Tennis court. The tournament brought together 83 junior tennis players from 33 countries. Meanwhile, the second leg of the ITF Junior tournament will continue at IPRC-Kigali next week as junior players from across the world continue to look for points that will help them in their ranking. The ITF World Tennis Tour is organized by the Rwanda Tennis Federation, International Tennis Federation and Rwanda’s Ministry of Sports. The tournament is meant to provide a launch pad for the best young players to go on and achieve success in the professional game. The top eight juniors at the end of the year go head-to-head at the prestigious season-ending ITF World Tennis Tour Junior Finals.
