Top seed Juliusz Stańczyk opened the second week of the ITF World Tennis Tour Juniors (J60) with a commanding 6-0, 6-0 victory over Rwanda’s Kevin Rutayisire in their first-round clash at the IPRC-Kigali Ecology Tennis Court on Monday, August 11. The boys’ singles encounter set the tone for week two of the tournament. Stańczyk, who fell short in the first week’s semi-finals against eventual champion and third seed Kazuki Nakajima, came out determined to make a statement. His aggressive play left Rutayisire with little room to respond, as the Polish dominated the match from start to finish. Meanwhile, second seed Eaden-Zack Harron delivered a similarly dominant performance, overpowering Rwanda’s Jedekia Niyibizi 6-2, 6-1. It was a tough day for Rwanda’s boys in the opening round as none of them managed to advance through the next round. Victor Angelo Cyubahiro put up a spirited fight against Tyler Tani. Despite showing flashes of resistance with some well-placed shots, he ultimately fell short 2-6, 4-6. ALSO READ: Nakajima, Xiang triumph in first week of J60 Kigali Elsewhere, King Onyx Umuhoza found himself under constant pressure from Ziheng Wang’s deep, consistent groundstrokes, losing 6-1, 6-2 after he failed to cope with his rhythm. In another match, Italy’s Mattia Autorine made quick work of the first set against Etamar Ronen, taking it 6-1, but had to work harder in the second as Ronen tightened his game. Autorine’s composure in key moments helped him close out the set 6-4 and secure his spot in the next round. Week one of the tour had crowned Japan’s Kazuki Nakajima and China’s Liu Xiang as champions in the boys’ and girls’ singles categories respectively. The Asian duo started from where they left off in the first week, launching yet a fresh battle to win it all in Kigali. Kazuki proved too strong for Irish Cllian Asante Ndilima, winning the first round in straight sets 6-0 6-0 while, in girls’ category, Xiang progressed to the second round on a bye.
