President Kagame and First Lady Jeannette Kagame have arrived at IPRC Kigali Ecology Tennis Club where they will watch the week 1 ATP Challenger 50 singles finals professional tennis competition.
The two-week event takes place in Kigali from February 26 to March 10, 2024. It is organized by the Rwanda Tennis Federation and ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals).
Yannick Noah, a legend of French Tennis, notably with his victory at Roland-Garros in 1983 honors with his presence at the Kigali ATP 50 Challenger.
Rwanda is the first country in the Sub-Saharan Africa region to host the ATP Challenger 50 Tour that brings seeded tennis pro-players to Kigali.
The ATP Challenger Tour 50 event is the second-highest professional tennis competition after the ATP. The Tour attracts some of the best players from across the world ranked between 100-250. This is a professional players’ pathway to the ATP Tour.
Some of the greatest players in men’s tennis, including Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Andy Roddick kick-started their careers at this level, earning ATP ranking points that propelled them to the top.
The ATP Challenger Tour currently takes place in 45 countries around the world, and are seeking to expand the circuit’s horizon in Africa. The objective of bringing it to Rwanda is to bring these high-profile tennis competitions closer to thousands of aspiring African tennis professionals.
The ATP Challenger Tour Challenger Tour is the first event in Sub-Saharan Africa. The selection of Rwanda comes after the successful hosting of six (06) high-profile International Tennis Federation (ITF) events in 2023. (End)