France’s Corentin Denolly kept his bid for back-to-back Rwanda Open titles firmly on track, storming into the semifinals with another dominant display on Friday at RP-Kicukiro Ecology Tennis Club. The defending champion, seeded third, eased past South Africa’s Marc Van der Merwe 6-1, 6-1 to extend his winning streak in Kigali to nine matches. Denolly will now face Morocco’s Yassine Dlimi [5], who advanced without playing after second seed Florent Bax withdrew through injury. Top seed Max Houkes of the Netherlands also continued his impressive run, defeating Germany’s Edison Ambarzumjan 6-1, 7-6(6). The 24-year-old Dutchman, who lost to Denolly in last week’s final, is eyeing another title showdown in Kigali but must first get past Bulgaria’s Dinko Dinev in Saturday’s semifinal. Dinev reached the last four after outlasting France’s Amaury Raynel [4] 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 in a tight three-set battle. The 19-year-old Bulgarian, who has shown remarkable consistency throughout the tournament, will look to upset Houkes for a spot in Sunday’s final. In doubles, the final will see Belgium’s Martin Van der Meerschen and Germany’s Maximilian Homberg take on Louis Van Herck (LUX) and Marlon Vankan (GER). Van der Meerschen and Homberg booked their place in the championship match after beating Denolly and Morocco’s Younes Lalami 6-4, 6-3. Their opponents, Van Herck and Vankan, advanced by walkover after Florent Bax and Rodrigo Alujas withdrew, thanks to Bax’s injury. The $30,000 ITF Men’s World Tennis Tour event continues through Sunday at the RP-Kicukiro Ecology Tennis Club.
