The highly anticipated "Rwanda Open M25" is returning to IPRC Kigali Ecology Tennis courts for its second edition, promising to draw top tennis talent from across the globe.
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The tournament is part of the prestigious ITF World Tennis Tour "Futures” series, a key event for players looking to climb the ATP rankings.
It will take place in two separate weeks with the first scheduled for September 23–29 and the second week from September 30 to October 6.
A prize money worth $25,000 (approximately RWF 35 million) is up for grabs with the winners set to take home $3,600 while the finalists will pocket $2,120.
Semi-finalists will earn $1,255, and even those who make it as far as the round of 32 will receive $260.
In the doubles category, the winning duo will be awarded $1,550, with the runners-up pocketing $900.
In 2023, Swiss Damien Wenger claimed the singles title during the first week, with French Corentin Denolly won week 2 of the tournament.
While they would go on to win the tournament each beating British Oliver Crawford in the final, the pair also teamed up to win the doubles title in the first week.
This year’s edition promises even fiercer competition, with international stars. Oliver Crawford is returning to Kigali looking to end the final curse, but he will face stiff competition from the likes of Romania’s Filip Cristian Jianu, Dutch Max Houkes, and returning champion Corentin Denolly among others stars expected in Kigali.
Meanwhile, Rwanda will be represented by five players including country’s top seed Claude Ishimwe, Joshua Muhire and Etienne Niyigena who were given wild cards for the main draw.
The more wild cards were handed to David Rwamucyo, Fabrice Tuyishime and Brian Hirwa Karenzi.
The six Rwandan representatives were selected based on their current rankings from the national championship which took place on September 9. Ishimwe emerged the winner of the opening edition and amassed 225 points including 200 in singles and 100 in doubles.