KAMPALA, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Burundi's Orly Iradukunda showed great nerves late on Friday, storming into the men's singles semifinals of the 2019 International Tennis Federation (ITF) World Tennis Pro Circuit 2 in Kampala.
The 23-year old struggled to survive his first set 7-6 against a determined Goveas Aryan from India, before his opponent fought back to win the second set 6-1.
Iradukunda, however, digged deep to win the third set 7-5 and wrap up the quarterfinal that lasted over two hours in his favor.
"I am happy that after losing at the quarterfinal stage in Circuit 1, I have now made it to the last four where I face the top seed," Iradukunda told Xinhua after the game.
He will meet defending champion and top seeded Ivan Nedelko, who dispatched Ukraine's Eric Vanshelboim 6-4, 6-3 in the other quarterfinal match.
New Zealand's Raj Ajeet was forced to retire in another quarterfinal game as Julius Tverijonas of Lithuania was leading 4-2. Ireland's Simon Carr, who lost in the final of Circuit 1 to Nedelko, defeated Reddy Rishi from India 6-1, 6-2.
In the men's doubles, Indian pair of Chandrasekar Anirudh and Kaliyanda Poonacha Niki made the final after seeing off Russia's Sergey Bolotov and Dev Prajwal 6-2, 6-4.
The other semifinal match will see Britain's Simon Carr and Ryan James Storries taking on Aryan Goveas of India and Giovani Samaha of Lebanon on Saturday.
