On Wednesday, November 21, 2018, Kenyan seeds Albert Njogu, Ryan Randiek and Derrick Ominde moved into the third round of the ITF East Africa Junior Circuit 18-and-under boys’ competition at Nairobi Club.
Third seed Njogu was in control from the start, beating Botswana’s Denzel Seesto 6-1, 6-1. His reward is a third-round meeting with South African Devin Badenhorst, who eliminated 16th seed Yunes Talavar of Iran 6-4, 6-3. The winner will go through to the quarterfinals.
Randiek also advanced in straight sets after overcoming Frenchman Youssef Baccouche 6-2, 6-2. He will next face Damien Laporte, who blanked Iran’s Esmaeil Pourfalami 6-0, 6-0.
After the match, Randiek said, “Baccouche had strong serves and strokes but I took him off from his comfort zone to win,” and added, “It will be an interesting third round duel, having beaten Laporte last in January. He is a solid player hence I need to prepare mentally and physically,”
Ominde, seeded 13th, joined them in the third round and now faces fourth seed Rostislav Galfinger of Kazakhstan for a place in the quarterfinals.
The boys’ draw also produced a major upset when unseeded Belgian Alexander Stokbroekx knocked out second seed Sina Moghimi. Moghimi took the first set 7-5, but Stokbroekx recovered to win the second 7-6 at six in the tiebreak before closing out the decider 7-5.
Stokbroekx will meet either Italy’s Rotilio Riccardo or Fabrice Tuyishime in the next round.
Top seed Abdoul Shakur Kabura is also through to the third round and will play 15th seed Max Flaherty. Kabura beat Kenya’s Keean Shah 6-2, 6-0, while Flaherty edged Khushal Gentele of the United States 6-2, 6-3.
In the girls’ event, Burundi’s second seed Aisha Niyonkuru eased past South Africa’s Rebecca Brody 6-0, 6-2 to set up a third-round clash with France’s Marie Brard Vidot. Vidot had earlier upset 15th seed Kenya’s Roselida Asumwa 6-2, 7-6 (5).
Also through to the third round were top seed Kenya’s Sneha Kotecha, fourth seed Tea Lupic of Germany, and Madagascar’s sixth seed Maily Ranaivo and seventh seed Narindra Ranaivo.
