{"id":66261,"date":"2024-02-26T14:27:12","date_gmt":"2024-02-26T14:27:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/historic-moment-as-habiyambere-debuts-at-atp-challenger-50-tour"},"modified":"2024-02-26T15:08:41","modified_gmt":"2024-02-26T15:08:41","slug":"historic-moment-as-habiyambere-debuts-at-atp-challenger-50-tour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/historic-moment-as-habiyambere-debuts-at-atp-challenger-50-tour","title":{"rendered":"Historic moment as Habiyambere debuts at ATP Challenger 50 Tour"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Rwanda. <\/strong><\/span>Rwanda’s very own Ernest Habiyambere will be the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) history books as soon as he steps onto center court of IPRC-Kigali Ecology Tennis Club to face David Cukierman of Israel in the opening match of the Main Draw of ATP Rwanda Challenger 50 Tour on Monday, February 26.<\/p>\n

Habiyambere’s inclusion in the main draw as one of the two wildcard entries marks a historic moment for Rwandan tennis which has never been represented in international tennis competitions of ATP caliber before.<\/p>\n

The 24-year old, who is unranked on the latest ATP rankings led by Serbian Novak Djokovic, will be looking to seize the opportunity and make a lasting impression on home soil.<\/p>\n

He, however, faces a mount to climb to oust his 475 ranked Israeli star David Cukierman who is among the top ranked in the Rwanda Challenger.<\/p>\n

According to the Monday Main Draw order of play, tournament top seed Ivan Gakhov of Russia is scheduled to take on Italian Gabriele Pennafort on Court 1. It will be a clash of seasoned players which promises to add an element of excitement to the opening day, setting the stage for intense competition.<\/p>\n

In another captivating showdown, American Preston Brown will open his campaign on Court 2 against Lawrence Bataljin of Australia.<\/p>\n

On Court 3, Alafia Ayeni from the United States and Romanian Leonid Sheyngzikht will also face off in what is expected to be a closely contested match. The diversity of nationalities represented in these matchups adds to the global appeal of the ATP Rwanda Challenger.<\/p>\n

Preceding these main draw matches, four qualifying round encounters will take place, setting the stage for an action-packed day on the courts.<\/p>\n

The competition promises to be a fierce one, as players vie for a coveted spot in the main draw.<\/p>\n

Four other Rwandans, who landed wildcards entry in the qualifiers, lost their respective matches on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Claude Ishimwe lost to Jaycer Lyeons (US) 6-2, 6-1, Junior Hakizumwami was beaten by Leonid Sheyngezikht 6-1, 6-1, and Joshua Muhire lwas sent packing after losing two straight sets 6-0, 6-1 at the hands of Nigeria\u2019s Christopher Bulus while Etinnne Niyigena missed out on chance to feature in the main draw after defeat to Australian Lawrence Bataljin.<\/p>\n

Monday: Order of Play<\/p>\n

Qualifying Round, 10am<\/p>\n

N. Schachter (US) vs C. Bulus (Nig) – Center Court<\/p>\n

J. Lyeons (US) vs L. Bouquet (Fra) – Court 1<\/p>\n

S. Watanabe (Jap) vs I. Denisov (…) – Court 2<\/p>\n

L. Fantini (Ita) vs A. Bellefemine (Arg) – Court 3<\/p>\n

Main Draw (Round 32)<\/p>\n

Center Court, 12pm<\/p>\n

E. Habiyambere (Rwa) vs D. Cukierman (ISR)<\/p>\n

I. Gakhov (Rus) vs G. Penna fort (Ita) – Court 1<\/p>\n

P. Brown (US) vs L. Bataljin (Aus) – Court 2<\/p>\n

A. Ayeni (US) vs L. Sheyngzikht (Rom) – Court 3<\/p>\n

J. Brumm (US) vs G. Iradukunda (BDI) – Center Court 2pm<\/p>\n

S. Kozlov (US) vs C. Tabur (Fra) – Court 1<\/p>\n

C. Denolly (Fra) vs H. Casanova (Arg) – Court 2<\/p>\n

N. lonely (Rom) vs J. Sheehy (US) – Court 3<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Rwanda<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Rwanda. Rwanda’s very own Ernest Habiyambere will be the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) history books as soon as he steps onto center court of IPRC-Kigali Ecology Tennis Club to face David Cukierman of Israel in the opening match of the Main Draw of ATP Rwanda Challenger 50 Tour on Monday, February 26. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":66260,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,18],"tags":[760,763,4407,5171,758],"class_list":["post-66261","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-sport","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-rwanda","tag-atp","tag-atp-rwanda-challenger-50-tour","tag-rwanda"],"yoast_head":"\nHistoric moment as Habiyambere debuts at ATP Challenger 50 Tour - Rwanda<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Rwanda's very own Ernest Habiyambere will be the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) history books as soon as he s ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/historic-moment-as-habiyambere-debuts-at-atp-challenger-50-tour\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Historic moment as Habiyambere debuts at ATP Challenger 50 Tour\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Rwanda's very own Ernest Habiyambere will be the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) history books as soon as he s ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/historic-moment-as-habiyambere-debuts-at-atp-challenger-50-tour\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Rwanda\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-02-26T14:27:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-02-26T15:08:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2024\/02\/sm_1708947310.611546.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"583\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/historic-moment-as-habiyambere-debuts-at-atp-challenger-50-tour#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/historic-moment-as-habiyambere-debuts-at-atp-challenger-50-tour\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Historic moment as Habiyambere debuts at ATP Challenger 50 Tour\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-02-26T14:27:12+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-02-26T15:08:41+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/historic-moment-as-habiyambere-debuts-at-atp-challenger-50-tour\"},\"wordCount\":513,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/historic-moment-as-habiyambere-debuts-at-atp-challenger-50-tour#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2024\/02\/sm_1708947310.611546.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Rwanda\",\"ATP\",\"ATP Rwanda Challenger 50 Tour\",\"Rwanda\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"Sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/historic-moment-as-habiyambere-debuts-at-atp-challenger-50-tour#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/historic-moment-as-habiyambere-debuts-at-atp-challenger-50-tour\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/historic-moment-as-habiyambere-debuts-at-atp-challenger-50-tour\",\"name\":\"Historic moment as Habiyambere debuts at ATP Challenger 50 Tour - 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