ABIDJAN/STARNBERG, April 27, 2026
The ATP Challenger Tour is back in Africa and Gauthier Onclin was crowned champion of the Cote d’Ivoire Open 1. The top seed of the $63,000 hard-court event from Belgium defeated Briton Hamish Stewart 7-6(5), 7-6(2) in Sunday evening’s singles final.
Onclin battled his way into the championship match with wins over Robert Strombachs from Latvia, Frenchman Cesar Bouchelaghem, No. 8 seed Mert Alkaya of Turkey and Calvin Hemery of France.
In a final with only one break on both sides, Onclin won 53 per cent of the total points played to secure victory in two hours and 12 minutes.
A milestone unlocked 🔓🇧🇪
Gauthier Onclin lands his maiden Challenger title, coming up clutch when it mattered most against Stewart, 7-6(5), 7-6(2) 💪#ATPChallenger | 📍Abidjan | @TennisBelgium pic.twitter.com/eZCQhcpCHG
— ATP Challenger (@ATPChallenger) April 26, 2026
Following 16 triumphs on the ITF World Tennis Tour, three of them this season, the world No. 243 captured his maiden title on the Challenger Tour. Onclin pocketed $8,550 in prize money as well as 50 ATP Ranking points.
The circuit remains for another week in the Ivory Coast at the Le Central Tennis Club in Abidjan with the Cote d’Ivoire Open 2, which offers a total prize pool of $107,000 and 75 ATP Ranking points to the winner.
