Africa-Press – Rwanda. First-week J 60 Kigali winners Kazuki Nakajima of Japan and China’s Xiang Liu continued their impressive run, securing spots in the finals of the second week after beating Matteo Santoro and Israel’s Chira Dvir respectively in semifinal matches held at center court of IPRC-Kigali Ecology Tennis Courts on Friday.
Xiang, seeded No 4, faced a stern test from second seed Dvir. After claiming the opening set 6-3, Xiang stumbled in the second, losing 2-6 as Dvir forced the game to the third and decisive set which went dow to the wire. The pair were 6-all before Xiang dominated the tiebreak which he won 7-0 to seal the win.
In the boys’ singles, Nakajima met Italy’s Matteo Santoro and displayed solid control from start to finish. The Japanese player broke Santoro’s serve at key moments to take the match 6-4, 6-2, advancing to yet another final without dropping a set.
Elsewhere in the girls’ draw, top seed Jannat Chiripal, who fell short in last week’s semifinal, earned redemption with a hard-fought comeback over third seed and last week finalist Liza Ritcherman. After losing the first set 1-6, Chiripal bounced back strongly to win second set 6-3 and final set 6-4, setting up a final clash with Xiang with whom they won the girls doubles title on Friday.
In the boys’ bracket, Alexander Groet advanced to the final after receiving a walkover from Amerigo Ambrosi whp reported ill on Friday. He will now face Nakajima in what promises to be a high-intensity showdown.
Meanwhile, Eaden-Zack Harron and Juliusz Stanczyk claimed their second straight boys’ double title this time on a walkover following Ambrosi’s withdrawal due to illness.
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