Ishimwe suffers early Rwanda Open M25 exit
Tuesday, September 24, 2024
Italy's Denis Constantin Spiridon during the game against Claude Ishimwe

Rwanda’s top seed Claude Ishimwe crashed out of the Rwanda Open M25 2024 after losing to Italy&039;s Denis Constantin Spiridon in Tuesday’s Round of 32 match at IPRC Kigali tennis courts.

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Spiridon dominated Ishimwe in two straight sets (6-0, 6-0) ending the Rwandan wildcard’s singles campaign.

It was a day of bad luck for Ishimwe who, and countryman Etienne Niyigena, also lost the doubles round of 16 to Venezuelan duo Juan Jose Bianchi and Brandon Perez in two straight sets (3-6, 0-6).

In other matches, Burundian tennis star Guy Orly Iradukunda made it past round of 32 after defeating Noah Schachter from the United States 6-3, 6-4.

British and tournament top seed Oliver Crawford also advanced to the next round, edging out Venezuela's Jose Bianchi 6-4, 6-4.

Joshua Muhire, another Rwanda wildcard winner, will be in Round of 32 action on Wednesday, September 25, when he takes on India’s Raymond Odour.

The Rwanda Open M25 is part of the prestigious ITF World Tennis Tour "Futures" series, a key tournament for players aspiring to climb the ATP rankings.

The event is played for over two weeks, with the first week running from September 23–29 and the second week scheduled for September 30 to October 6.

The tournament offers a prize pool of $25,000 (approximately RWF 35 million). The singles winner will take home $3,600, while the runner-up will earn $2,120. Semi-finalists are set to receive $1,255, and players who make it to the round of 32 will collect $260.

In the doubles category, the winners will be awarded $1,550, with the runners-up earning $900.

Italy's Denis Constantin Spiridon during the game against Claude Ishimwe

Rwandan palyer Claude Ishimwe in action during the game