Over 50 tennis prospects from across the globe are in Kigali for the ITF World Tennis Tour Juniors/Grade 5 tournament, which kicks off at the IPRC-Kigali Ecology Tennis Courts on Monday, April 21. The juniors tennis tournament, exclusively for players under 18, will span two weeks until May 4. The first week, which start on Monday, April 21 will through Sunday, April 27 with the second week set to start on April 28 through May 4. The competition returns to the Rwandan capital for the fourth time in a row. Kigali has been hosting the tournament since 2022. This year’s edition has attracted 30 boys and 18 girls are set to compete on Kigali’s clay court, with 30 points for each of the two weeks up for grabs for them to improve their rankings on ITF. Of the participants, Rwanda has eight representatives at the tournament, including seven boys and one girl. Theoneste Karenzi, the president of Rwanda Tennis Federation, told Times Sport that bringing the world tour juniors to Kigali will hopefully help the federation form a young generation ready to take the mantle from the current generation of elite players. “This tour will provide international exposure to our young tennis generation, facilitating the transition to the next generation of Rwandan tennis players,” he said. ALSO READ: How Rwanda can become a global tennis stop Rwandan players participating include Gedeon Murinzi, Edison Nshimiyimana, King Onyx Umuhoza, Calvin Habiyambere, Elyse Igiraneza, Wesley Shema, and Victor Angelo Cyubahiro in the boys' category, while in the girls' category, the country will be represented by Thierrine Ineza.
