France’s Alice Tubello won the singles title at W35 Bujumbura in Burundi by defeating Ksenia Laskutova 6-2 6-7 6-3 as she targets a return to the world’s Top 500 following her six-month injury lay-off last year.

The scoreline hides a momentous match lasting 2 hours and 41 minutes. Tubello served for the match at 5-3 in the second set, had match points at 5-4 but would have to wait a further hour and 12 minutes before converting her third match point and taking the title.

The win is Tubello’s first above W15 level and boosts her comeback after surgery last year interrupted her career. Her absence from the Tour saw her ranking drop from a career-high No. 323 in the WTA Rankings, which she has been slowly rebuilding this year with a win at W15 Le Havre in March and a semi-final at W35 Hammamet in February.

Both finalists paid tribute to the atmosphere at the Entente Sportive de Bujumbura and to the high-quality organisation from the Burundian federation.

“I want to thank all the people who came out to support our match today, it’s great to play in front of people who bring such an atmosphere,” said Tubello.

“It’s my first time in Burundi. It’s really a lovely surprise because I love being here, underlined by this title, which makes it more incredible for me. A big thank you to all of you. A last word for Ksenia who had a great week here.”

Laskutova said: “I’ve been here last year and I really enjoyed coming to Burundi. This is my second time here and I hope not the last because I really have enjoyed the way Burundi hosts the people from other countries.”

This is the second year that Burundi has hosted W35 tournaments and the crowds were out in force again to support local hero Sada Nahimana, who made the doubles final with Latvian Kamilla Bartone.

Although Bartone and Nahimana would eventually lose to Weronika Falkowska from Poland and Stephanie Visscher from the Netherlands 6-3 4-6 10-5 in another high-quality match, the level of support for Nahimana and Bartone when they took the second set showed the raucous support for the Burundian.

So ends the first of two weeks in Bujumbura which last year were recognised as among the highest rated tournaments by the players, a source of pride for Gilbert Nibigirwe, president of the Burundi federation.

“Last year, the first year of our competition, we were very proud to be awarded a star under the ITF’s tournament recognition programme and are very happy that the player fields are even stronger this year,” he said.

“We are delighted to be able to provide tournament where Burundians can see Sada [Nahimana] play and be successful, and we look forward to future editions of this tournament. Our thanks to the ITF for their great support.”

The ITF World Tennis Tour went from strength-to-strength in 2023, bolstering its position as a fundamental pillar of professional tennis and the stage for the development of the game’s future stars.

Over 10,600 players took part in more than 1,135 tournaments as competitive opportunities increased on pre-pandemic levels, with sustainable development a key ingredient of the Tour.

Last year’s W35 Bujumbura was the first ever professional women’s tournament hosted in Burundi, while Congo Brazzaville and Ethiopia staged ITF World Tennis Tour events for the first time. Rwanda, meanwhile, hosted an ITF World Tennis Tour event for the first time in 10 years. All four nations are hosting again in 2024.