RENNES, January 26, 2020
Arthur Rinderknech has capped his dream week at the Open Blot Rennes by winning his maiden title on the ATP Challenger Tour. The 24-year-old Frenchman defeated British veteran James Ward 7-5, 6-4 in Sunday’s singles final of the €46,600 hard-court event.
3,000 spectators created a fantastic atmosphere in a sold-out Le Liberté Arena in Rennes and Rinderknech was the dominant player right from the beginning. The local favourite saved the only break point he faced and capitalized on two of his own seven break point chances to secure victory in one hour and 33 minutes.
#OBR20 🎾 Balle d’@OpenBlotRennes 2020 Arthur Rinderknech ! On savoure… @arthurrinder @ATPChallenger @metropolerennes @FFTennis @TennisActu pic.twitter.com/BWqvZyQEAC
— Open Blot Rennes (@OpenBlotRennes) January 26, 2020
“This has been an exceptional week for me,” Rinderknech was happy afterwards. “If I had been told Monday that I will be here today, I would have never believed it. Congratulations to James. I think it was difficult for him today, as the crowd supported me a lot but he fought hard. He has a very good level of play and did not make it easy for me.”
The World No. 329, who lives and practices in Brittany, earned €6,190 in prize money as well as 80 ATP Ranking points.
Weissborn/Sancic open season with title win
Tristan-Samuel Weissborn and Antonio Sancic, both former doubles champions in Rennes, captured their first team title. The top seeds defeated Russian Teymuraz Gabashvili and Lukas Lacko from Slovakia 7-5, 6-7(5), 10-7 in one hour and 29 minutes.
Tristan-Samuel Weissborn 🇦🇹 & Antonio Sancic 🇭🇷 take the doubles title in Rennes.
They will stick together as team for the rest of the season, playing the @ATPChallenger swing in the United States next.
Goal is to crack the Top 50. @OpenBlotRennes #tennÖs pic.twitter.com/bIZgV651Ze
— Florian Heer (@Florian_Heer) January 26, 2020
“It wasn’t easy for us, as we had to come back from a break down in each set,” Weissborn told Tennis TourTalk. “We just focused on our game and it paid off in the end.”
The Austrian-Croatian duo spent several weeks together during the off-season and decided to join forces in 2020. “We practiced together in Zagreb and enjoyed a good time together on and off the court,” the 28-year-old Austrian said and added that their goal is to crack the Top 50 this year.
Weissborn and Sancic will try to continue their run on the US-American Challenger-swing, competing at Newport and Dallas next.
