ITF World Tennis Tour: Hakizumwami beats Rabarijaona to reach final

Rwanda’s Junior Hakizumwami booked the first ticket to the final of the ongoing ITF Tennis World Tour Junior Grade 5 tournament after beating Madagascar’s Tefy Ranja Rabarijaona 2-1 (6-3, 3-6, 6-2) in Thursday’s semifinal game at Kicukiro Ecology Tennis Club. The 16-year-old has been in impressive form from the beginning of the weeklong tournament during which he has not lost a single’s match. He, however, faced a tough challenge from Rabarijaona despite winning the first set of the game 6-3. The Madagascan bounced back to win the second with the same score to force the game to a decisive third set. Hakizumwami’s resilience paid off as he finished the final set triumphant with 6-2 to knock Rabarijaona out of the semifinals after a hard-fought 2-1 victory. He will face Polish youngster Marcin Andrzejczak who also advanced to the final after a spirited comeback from a set down to beat Egyptian Mostafa Noureldine 2-1 (6-7 (3) 6-4 6-1) in the semifinals on Thursday, same tennis court. Andrzejczak lost the first 6-7(3) but quickly fought back to win the second and third sets 6-4 and 6-1 respectively. In girls’ singles, Egypt’s Sosanne Malak beat Tai Pei’s Ming-Fu Chen 2-0 (7-6, (3) 6-3) in the finals to set up a final date with Poland’s red hot tennis sensation Natalia Klys who progressed to the final after comfortably sweeping Moldovan Natalia Drobca 2-0 (6-0 6-0) in the semifinals. The finals in male and female singles will take place Saturday, April 29 at Kicukiro Ecology Tennis court. The ITF World Tennis Tour Juniors tournament is one of the six international tennis tournaments that Rwanda will host in 2023. A total of 52 tennis players from 18 countries, including host nation Rwanda, are attending the week-long tournament which started in Kigali on Monday, April 24 and runs through Friday April 28. ALSO READ: Over 50 players confirmed for ITF World Tennis tour Rwanda had the highest representation at the tournament with 15 players. Other countries that are represented include Egypt, Madagascar, Poland, India, Kenya, Italy, Czech Republic, Russia, Burundi, Canada, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Taiwan, Belgium, South Africa and Moldova.

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ITF World Tennis Tour: Hakizumwami beats Rabarijaona to reach final