RENNES/STARNBERG, September 19, 2021
Red-hot Benjamin Bonzi remains unstoppable on the ATP Challenger Tour. The 25-year-old Frenchman was crowned champion of the 15th Open Blot Rennes, claiming a record-tying sixth title this season.
Bonzi, No. 3 seed of the €66,640 hard-court tournament, defeated in-form Mats Moraing, winner of last week’s NÖ Open in Tulln, Austria, 7-6(3), 7-6(3) in Sunday’s singles final.
In front of packed stands at Le Liberté, Bonzi withstood 16 aces from the big-serving German and came back from a break down in the opening set. The World No. 76 eventually outpointed his opponent 88-79 after one hour and 33 minutes.
HISTORY 🏆🎉@BenjaminBonzi is the champion in Rennes, claiming a record-tying SIXTH #ATPChallenger title of the year.
Bravo Ben!! 👏 @OpenBlotRennes pic.twitter.com/KEWxeLX1Wm
— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) September 19, 2021
Following his triumphs at the Potch Open in South Africa, at the Ostrava Open in the Czech Republic, at the Open Castilla y Leon in Segovia, Spain as well as in front of his home crowd in Saint-Tropez and Cassis, Bonzi pocketed €9,200 in prize money as well as 90 ATP Ranking points.
The Nimes native is projected to reach a new career-high ranking of World No. 61 on Monday. Bonzi joins the club of Argentines Facundo Bagnis (2016) and Juan Ignacio Chela (2001) as well as Younes El Aynaoui (1998) of Morocco, who all captured six Challenger trophies in one season.
Just ridiculous, @BenjaminBonzi 💪🔥
✅ Record-tying sixth title in a single season (joins Bagnis, Chela, El Aynaoui)
✅ First to win three titles in three consecutive weeks since 2016 (Youzhny)
✅ First to own a 20-match #ATPChallenger win streak since 2017 (Tipsarevic) pic.twitter.com/p6Mjn34x3T
— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) September 19, 2021
“He was taking his chance whenever he could on every ball on the return,” Bonzi said. “I tried to stay in the match. I saved some set points, then I played two very good tie-breaks. You had to have a big serve today. I managed to get a lot of first serves in the tie-breaks, which helped a lot.”
“It wasn’t easy, I think I had a chance to win the first set,” said Moraing, who earned €5,400 in prize money as well as 55 ATP Ranking points.
“But he turned it around really well, and played two very good tie-breaks. He deserves to win. There were 3,000 people in the stadium, it was amazing, I really enjoyed my tournament.”
