Africa-Press – Rwanda. Rwanda’s top seed Claude Ishimwe and No 2 Étienne Niyigena return to ITF Men’s World Tennis Tour in action on Tuesday, October 7, with renewed efforts to earn first Rwanda Open M25 points on their home ground at RP-Kicukiro Ecology Tennis Club.
The pair have stood out as Rwanda’s flag bearers at each of the past two editions of Rwanda Open since it was included on the ITF Men’s World Tennis Tour in 2023. However, neither of the two managed to get past the first round of the main draw.
The next two weeks will either serve as the right occasion to prove those who have been doubting them, or mark a statement that they could be past their best.
Ishimwe enters the main draw as Rwanda’s No1 as indicated on the national ranking while Niyigena follows as second seed. They both, alongside David Manzi Rwamucyo and Emmanuel Manishimwe, earned wildcards which are partly given the tournament host nation.
Expectations are high from the home supporters who hope to see the quartet shift from ‘filling the main draw table’ to turning their wildcards into ‘golden tickets’ to making themselves count in further rounds of the tournament.
Ishimwe opens his campaign on Centre Court against Germany’s Marlon Vankan at 10:00 a.m. He will also feature later in doubles alongside compatriot Niyigena against French Amaury Raynel and Ioan Alexandru Teglas of Roumania.
Rwamucyo faces Maximilian Homberg of Germany in another first round match that will follow at Centre Court as Manishimwe takes on Morocco’s sixth seed Yassine Dilmi.
In the doubles category, Gift Ivan Ngarambe will team up with Uganda’s David Oringa for their round of 16 match against Aditya Balsekar of India and Darrshan Suresh of Malaysia.
The 2025 Rwanda Open M25, now in its third consecutive edition, brings together male professional players from around the world competing for a total prize pool of $30,000 for one week-long tournament.
The prize pool represents a 20 percent increase compared to last year’s $25,000. The singles winner will earn $4,612 and 25 ATP ranking points, while players reaching the Round of 16 will receive $319.
Doubles champions will share $1,872, with teams exiting in the Round of 16 earning $194.
Kigali is hosting two weeks of the tour, with the first now running from October 6-12 while the second week is scheduled for October 13-16.
The competition will feature 32 players, including 10 ranked inside the world’s top 1,000, all part of the main draw. Rwanda’s top players earned wild cards through strong performances in the national ranking championships organized by the Rwanda Tennis Federation (RTF).
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