ATP Challenger Tour · Semifinals · Kigali 2
Final score & match stats
Playing styles and historical archetype record
Royer
💥 Big Hitter
Houkes
🧱 The Wall
Matchup analysis
The 💥 Big Hitter archetype wins about 57% vs 🧱 The Wall across 2,636 matches in our dataset. That is a small stylistic lean for Valentin Royer here.
Big Hitter players often use power groundstrokes and high winner count to pressure the the wall's elite returner. On Clay, that can swing with conditions.
Hypothetical if you put 1u on each player to win every one of their matches · Last 90 days
| Metric | Royer | Houkes |
|---|---|---|
| W-L | 10–10 | 9–7 |
| Avg odds | 1.85 | 2.30 |
| ROI % | -21.9% | +14.4% |
| Units P/L | -4.38u | +2.31u |
Prior meetings and scores · 2 career meetings
2
Royer
0
Houkes
Results vs. opponents both players faced · Last 12 months
Royer has a higher win rate against shared opponents (50% vs Houkes's 25%).
| Opponent | Royer | Houkes |
|---|---|---|
| Marco Cecchinato | L 36 03 | L 67 26 |
| Roman Safiullin | L 16 26 | L 46 16 |
| Daniel Merida | W 63 75 | W 36 63 64 |
| Raphael Collignon | W 64 76 | L 64 46 16 |
Serve and return comparison · Last 90 days
| Stat | Royer | Houkes |
|---|---|---|
| Serve | ||
| 1st Serve In % | 64.1% | 60.4% |
| 1st Serve Pts Won % | 68.9% | 64.8% |
| 2nd Serve Pts Won % | 49.8% | 43.5% |
| Aces / Match | 3.8 | 2.9 |
| Double Faults / Match | 2 | 3.2 |
| Break Points Saved % | 49.3% | 55.8% |
| Return | ||
| 1st Return Pts Won % | 33.3% | 30.6% |
| 2nd Return Pts Won % | 46.3% | 49.6% |
| BP Converted % | 31.2% | 46.7% |
| Rally | ||
| Winners / Match | 21.9 | 19.8 |
| Unforced Errors / Match | 28.9 | 27.5 |
| Net Pts Won % | 66.7% | 57.8% |
| Total Pts Won % | 50% | 47.3% |
| Surface (Clay) | ||
| Clay Win % | 53% | 53% |
Last five matches per player
Marco Cecchinato
Internazionali di Tennis Città di Perugia | G.I.MA. Tennis Cup · Round of 16
Jun 3
Nicolas Alvarez Varona
Internazionali di Tennis Città di Perugia | G.I.MA. Tennis Cup · Round of 32
Jun 2
Novak Djokovic
Roland Garros · Round of 64
May 27
Hugo Dellien
Roland Garros · Round of 128
May 24
Francisco Comesana
Gonet Geneva Open · Round of 32
May 9
Emilio Nava
Neckarcup 2.0 · Round of 32
Jun 3
Marco Cecchinato
Roland Garros · 1st Round Qualifying
May 24
Inaki Montes-De La Torre
KIA Tunis Open · Round of 16
May 9
Kaichi Uchida
KIA Tunis Open · Round of 32
May 7
Zsombor Piros
Ostra Group Open By Porsche Servisni Centrum Ostrava · Round of 32
Apr 29
Match summary
Valentin Royer and Max Houkes will meet in the semifinals of the Oeiras Open 3 on clay on April 18, 2026. Royer, ranked 77th, faces Houkes, who sits at 257th, in what shapes up as a matchup between players at very different stages of their careers.
The two have met once before, with Royer claiming victory in that head-to-head encounter. This will be their second meeting and an opportunity to see if Royer can repeat that result or if Houkes can break through.
Both players arrive in hot form. Royer has won 4 of his last 5 matches and is on a three-match winning streak after six matches in two weeks. Houkes has matched that 80% win rate over his last five and also brings a three-match streak into the semifinal, though he's played slightly fewer matches recently.
Royer relies on a strong serving game and has built a solid 65% record on clay surfaces. Houkes plays a more defensive, consistent style and holds a 55% clay record. The surface favors neither player dramatically, though Royer's aggressive approach has proven more successful on this court so far.
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