Havugimana wins Axiome tennis tourney title

Olivier Havugimana won his first career title after he beat Mathieu Uwizeyimana in the final of the inaugural Axiome tennis tournament.

Saturday, June 07, 2014
Olivier Havugimana with his envelope of Rwf300,000 cash prize and a T-shirt. (Richard Bishumba)

SaturdayHavugimana (6) bt Uwizeyimana (5) (6-3, 6-4)

Olivier Havugimana won his first career title after he beat Mathieu Uwizeyimana in the final of the inaugural Axiome tennis tournament.

Rwanda’s number six Havugimana achieved the milestone in straight sets (6-3, 6-4) yesterday at Rugunga-based Kigali Sports Center.

The 18-year-old only needed 34 minutes to win the first set 6-3 before winding-up the game with the second set 6-4 in 47 minutes.

En-route to the final, Havugimana beat top seed Jean Claude Gasigwa in the semi-finals, while Uwizeyimana overcame Hamissi Gatete.

"Beating Gasigwa in the semi-finals gave me hope that I can win the tournament and thankfully I have managed to build on and win my first title. I am so happy and I hope is the first of many more title to come in future,” Havugimana told Sunday Sport after the match.

His beaten opponent Uwizeyimana, 24, said congratulated the winner, "Havugimana deserves his title because he has had an outstanding tournament. My attention now turns to forthcoming Kenya Open.”

The tournament attracted the top 31 players in the country coming from different clubs namely; Kigali Sports Center, Amahoro stadium club, Nyarutarama and Umubano Hotel tennis clubs respectively.