French qualifier Luka Pavlovic pulled off a hard-fought victory over Italy’s Marco Cecchinato in three sets 7-6(3), 6-7(4), 6-4 to book a spot in the semifinals of the ATP Rwanda Challenger 100. Pavlovic will now face Dutchman Guy Den Ouden, who advanced after seeing off second seed Calvin Hemery who retired due to an injury. Hemery, who reached the final of the Brazzaville Challenger 50 in February, had claimed the first set 7-6(3) before injuring his hand. The doctor attended to the injury during the first set break as he pushed to play the second set. He, however, couldn’t resist Den Ouden’s powerful serves which helped him even the match after claiming the second set 6-0. Hemery decided to abandon the match when he was 2-0 down in the decisive set to avoid worsening his injury. Meanwhile, Max Houkes of the Netherlands secured his semifinal berth with a 6-2, 7-6(5) win over France’s Clement Tabur. Houkes will take on fourth seed Valentin Royer, who continued his strong run with a 6-3, 7-6(5) victory against Italian qualifier Gabriele Pennaforti. In the doubles category, France’s Geoffrey Blancaneaux and Czech partner Zdenek Kolar rallied to defeat Andrej Martin and Maximilian Neuchrist 4-6, 6-2, 10-7, setting up a final clash against India’s Siddhant Banthia and Bulgaria’s Alexander Donski, who overcame American Alafia Ayeni and Luka Pavlovic 6-4, 6-3. The semifinals are set to take place on Saturday, March 8, with Pavlovic facing Den Ouden and Houkes battling Royer, followed by the doubles final in the afternoon.
