Top seed Marco Trungellitti battled past Jonas Forejtek in a thrilling three-set encounter, winning 7–6(0), 4–6, 7–6(5) to book his place in the quarterfinals of the Rwanda Challenger 100 on Wednesday at the IPRC Kigali Ecology Tennis Club. The Argentine, who lifted the Kigali title in 2024, entered the match determined to bounce back from a disappointing campaign in last week Challenger 75, where he was knocked out by eventual champion Joel Schwärzler. Trungellitti started brightly and claimed the first set. Although it had to be decided by a tie-break, the 36-year-old dominated the breaker, winning all seven points without reply to seal the set 7–6(0). Forejtek, however, responded strongly in the second set. The Czech raised the intensity of his baseline game and capitalised on a few unforced errors from the Argentine to level the match after taking the set 6–4. ALSO READ: Napolitano gets revenge as Houkes seeks redemptio The decisive third set turned into a tense battle as both players held serve, pushing the match into another tie-break. Trungellitti appeared uncomfortable at times, especially late in the set, but relied on his experience and well-timed shot selection on the clay court to edge the breaker 7–5 and secure victory. Speaking to Times Sport after the match, Trungellitti admitted the contest became particularly challenging in the final set as he struggled with stomach problems. “At the beginning I felt good from the baseline, but it became tougher as he started hitting higher balls that pushed me back. Despite all the struggles, the third set was a miracle for me,” he said. In other matches, fourth seed Jay Clarke failed to progress after Andrej Martin secured a straight-sets victory 7–6(3), 6–3. Elsewhere, eighth seed Marco Cecchinato came from a set down to defeat Sandro Kopp 4–6, 6–3, 6–4, while Max Houkes also advanced after edging Alexander Donski 7–6(8), 7–6(1). Second-round action continues Thursday with four matches still to be played before the quarterfinals get underway on Friday. Thursday’s Order of Play Stefano Napolitano vs Maximilian Neuchrist Sean Cuenin vs Arthur Gea Eero Vasa vs Filip Cristian Jianu Corentin Denolly vs Zdenek Kolar
