Hemery triumphs at M25 Brazzaville as Congo hosts first pro events
France’s Calvin Hemery lived up to billing as the headline act by topping the podium at the second of back-to-back M25 Brazzaville tournaments in Congo.
Hemery reached the semi-finals in the opening M25 Brazzaville event before going the distance in the second to seal his first ITF World Tennis Tour title since 2021.
As was the case in the semi-finals against Mateo Barreiros Reyes of Brazil, the 28-year-old recovered from a set down in the final to defeat fellow Frenchman Thomas Setodji – a victory which has seen him rise to No. 330 in the ATP Rankings.
The bigger picture is the M25 Brazzaville events, which were staged at the Pole Tennis Club, were the first ever professional tennis tournaments to be staged on the ITF World Tennis Tour in Congo.
They followed Congo hosting its maiden junior event on the ITF World Tennis Tour in June. Such tournaments are part of the ITF’s ongoing commitment to work with its national associations to broaden opportunity.
As well as Congo, the 2023 ITF World Tennis Tour has also welcomed new hosts in Ethiopia (with M15 events in May), Rwanda (M25s in September) and Burundi (W25s in April), to complement existing hosts in Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, Kenya and South Africa.The addition of Congo to that roster has been immensely exciting for the sport across the country.
Tennis has been played in Congo since the mid-1930s, although the rate of the sport’s development has fluctuated in the decades since. The last four years, however, have seen significant progress with the federation organising Davis Cup Africa Group IV events and Congo joining the ITF Junior Tennis Initiative – a key development programme.
Hugues-Henry Ngouelondele, the tournament director for June's junior events and the men’s events this past fortnight, described the new tournaments as “a wonderful initiative which gives Congo an image of a nation looking to the future”.