Houkes continues stellar form with M25 Kigali title

Max Houkes continued his stellar post-summer form on the World Tennis Tour by defending the M25 Kigali title with a hard-fought victory over Dev Javia on Sunday.

The 6-2 6-7(4) 7-5 triumph in Rwanda gave Houkes a third title in four tournaments, taking his career total to 15. It also continues his recent ranking rise, with the Dutchman guaranteed to improve on his current career-best of No.222, which he set after winning back-to-back M25 events in Morocco last month, when the latest positions are revealed next Monday.

After breezing through the opening rounds in Kigali, Houkes recovered from a set down in his semi-final against Calvin Hemery of France, before battling for almost three hours against India’s Javia in the final.

Houkes’s success has traditionally come on clay, with all but one of his professional titles coming on the surface. And this current purple patch – he has now won 18 of his past 19 matches – has all taken place during the World Tennis Tour’s current stretch of clay-court events across Africa.

Elsewhere, Matthew Dellavedova continued his own dominant form by securing a World Tennis Tour-leading eighth title of the season. The Australian’s success at M25 Luan in China, P.R. improved his main-draw record in 2026 to a staggering 84-19 – a total 30 more than any other player – and is likely to be rewarded with a Top-250 debut.

There were also titles on home soil last week for Dellavedova’s compatriot Casey Hoole, at M25 Darwin, and Alexander Weis of Italy at M25 Santa Margherita Di Pula.