Ugandans break new ground at Betway sponsored ITF F4 Futures

Whatever the result of Thursday’s men doubles seminal match involving Duncan Mugabe and Russian Anton Chekhov against Darko Bojanovic and Shunsuke Wakita, the F4 Futures ITF Pro Circuit will be considered a success for Ugandan players.

This is after the contingent led by Duncan Mugabe managed to break the round of 16 stage barrier which they had not exceeded in the opening three weekly Betway sponsored tournaments.

That hoodoo was finally broken at the start of the week when Duncan Mugabe into the main draw as a wild card, defeated compatriot Simon Peter Ayella in straight sets 6-1 6-2 to progress to the last 16 stage.

What followed however will have made hosts Uganda Tennis Association proud with teenager Boris Aguma gaining his first ranking point in reaching the round of 16 stage.

 This followed a fairytale run that included a 6-2 6-3 straight sets victory over Nigerian Joseph Imeh in the round-of-32.



In the qualifiers over the weekend he also recorded identical 6-2 6-2 wins over Alexey Dubinin (Russia) and Joe Cooper (Great Britain) to reach the main draw.

That run was then brought to an end on Wednesday morning with the teenager winning just two games en route to a 6-0 6-2 defeat to Serbian Goran Markovic.

 Mugabe then soon followed him after going down to tournament fifth seed Marco Miceli. Ugandan top seed though gave the impression he could have gone even further in the men’s singles event.

 “It is hard losing this way and especially after having many break points,” he lamented shortly after his defeat on Court 3 at the Lugogo tennis court yesterday morning.


 
Mugabe went down in straight sets 6-4 6-4 despite breaking the Italian’s serve in both sets.

 In the afternoon, Mugabe however found solace in in the doubles event when he and Russian partner Anton Chekhov ousted fourth seeds Darko Bojanovic / Shunsuke Wakita to reach the semifinals.

The performance in the doubles event is also a first for any Ugandan player at the four-week tournament.

Russian Ivan Nedelko ranked 256 in the world has won two of the three Future tournaments thus far and is still in line for a third in the matches that can also be staked on online site betting site Betway.ug



 The ITF Men’s Circuit provides the entry level of Professional Tournaments enabling players to eventually reach the higher level tournaments on the ATP World Tour.

 The ITF Men’s Circuit offers 600+ tournaments across 70+ countries and incorporates two prize money levels of tournaments known as 'Futures'.

Futures Tournaments are single week tournaments that offer either $15,000 or $25,000 each in prize money.
These tournaments must be scheduled in three consecutive weeks of $15,000 each in prize money or two consecutive weeks of $25,000 each in prize money.

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