Indonesian men's tennis player Muhammad Rifqi Fitriadi advanced to the quarterfinals of the Amman Men's World Tennis Championship series VI in Nusa Dua, Bali.
Competing in the second round of the ITF M25 international tournament on Thursday, Rifqi defeated Japanese wildcard Kazuki Nishiwaki in 1 hour and 30 minutes in their first head-to-head encounter.
Eighth seed Rifqi dominated the first set. Nishiwaki fought back in the second, but the Banjarmasin native held his nerve and ultimately won 6-1, 7-5, according to the ITF.
This performance continued Rifqi's positive trend, having defeated Romanian tennis player Vladislav Melnic 6-2, 6-1 in the first round the day before.
Before setting foot in Bali, Rifqi was eliminated in the quarterfinals of the ITF M15 Nakhon Pathom in Thailand last week. He lost to fourth-seeded British player Max Basing.
In the Land of the Elephant, the Cambodian 2023 SEA Games men's singles gold medalist was the runner-up in the ITF M15 Nakhon Pathom doubles the previous week on August 18-24.
Rifqi, along with South Korean player Lee Junhyeon, played brilliantly without dropping a set. They stumbled in the quarterfinals, going through a rubber set, but managed to advance to the final round.
