Chidekh Earns First ATP Tour Main-Draw Win At European Open

Clement Chidekh
Clement Chidekh (photo: Belga – BNP Paribas Fortis European Open)

BRUSSELS/WASHINGTON, October 21, 2026 (by Michael Dickens)

Clement Chidekh earned his first ATP ranking point at age 18, broke into the Top 500 four years ago in the summer of 2022, entered the Top 200 two years ago in 2024 and, earlier this month, achieved a career-high ranking of No. 146. His career trajectory has angled in a positive direction since he turned professional in 2022, after playing two years of college tennis in the United States.

The 25-year-old right-hander from Arles, France (about 40 kilometers north of Avignon), who is currently ranked No. 152, is widely characterized by his deeply collaborative mindset, an intense mental resilience and grounded humility. His approach to playing tennis was uniquely shaped by his time playing tennis collegiately at the University of Washington, where he earned a No. 1 national ranking and compiled an impressive 42-11 win-loss record.

Since arriving in Brussels for this week’s ATP 250 BNP Paribas Fortis European Open, Chidekh won a pair of qualifying draw matches over the weekend to earn a berth in the 28-player main draw. He has remained grounded and humbled but filled with good nature. Now, Chidekh has morphed into a crowd favorite with the Belgian fans.

On Tuesday afternoon, Chidekh’s positive traits and qualities were on display for all to see and appreciate. By the end of his 6-1, 6-4 victory over stoic No. 7 seed Botic van de Zandschulp of the Netherlands, which lasted 81 minutes on Centre Court, Chidekh had earned his first ATP Tour win in his third main-draw appearance. 

Chidekh hit 18 winners, made just 15 unforced errors and converted six of 15 break points. Although he won just 68 percent (25 of 37) of his first-serve points, he backed it by garnering 55 percent (six of 11) of his second-serve points. Both percentages exceeded those achieved by van de Zandschulp. Chidekh outpointed the big-serving Dutchman 69-47, and sent van de Zandschulp to his 23rd loss of the season. He was denied a chance of achieving his 30th victory of the year after finishing with 18 winners and 25 unforced errors against Chidekh.

“I’m very happy I could get it done,” Chidekh said during his on-court interview, speaking about achieving his first ATP Tour main-draw victory, after going 51-24 in all competitions this season. “I think the reward comes from a lot of good work. I think a lot of [recognition] should go to my coaches. They’ve really helped me to trust myself.”

Guiding Chidekh has been his former University of Washington coach Matt Anger, who quit his job in Seattle, Wash., to travel the tour with Chidekh. He’s also received coaching help from Lionel Zimbler and Vivien Cabos.

Chidekh’s triumph over van de Zandschulp on Tuesday was a long time coming after making his main-draw debut in 2023 at Montpellier as a qualifier, losing to fellow Frenchman Quentin Halys in three sets, and after qualifying for Marseille last year, where he lost in the first round to Zizou Bergs of Belgium.

Earlier, Chidekh compiled a 126-44 career win-loss record on the ITF World Tennis tour (10-5 in finals), earning all 10 titles on hard courts. He went on to achieve a 76-55 win-loss record on the ATP Challenger Tour (5-2 in finals), winning back-to-back titles at Nottingham and Glasgow last January, and earlier this month adding the Open Vendée title in Mouilleron le Captif, France to his trophy case.

Chidekh’s straight-set victory over the 38th-ranked van de Zandschulp advanced him to the second-round against No. 87 Jacob Fearnley of Great Britain, who needed just 72 minutes to eliminate No. 93 Hugo Gaston of France, 6-3, 6-0.

Fearnley outpointed Gaston 66-42 and finished strong by winning seven-consecutive games of the first-round match.

Bergs, Collignon highlight Belgian Day in Brussels

Zizou Bergs leads all Belgians in tour-level wins on the ATP Tour this year, highlighted by his recent upset victory over World No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz in the third round at the Rolex Shanghai Masters last week – the biggest win of his career – and he’s No. 1 among Belgium’s Big Three (along with Raphael Collignon and Alexander Blockx) in charisma and personality. 

On Tuesday evening, the No. 6 seed Bergs was featured on Centre Court against 96th-ranked Toby Samuel of Great Britan. By the conclusion of their 87-minute match, the 41st-ranked Bergs had prevailed, 6-3, 7-6 (3). It came much to the delight of the many Belgian fans, who filled the seats in Palais 12, and it advanced Bergs to the second round on Thursday. It was the Belgian’s 24th triumph of the 2026 season and it leveled his career win-loss record in the European Open at 4-4.

Bergs hit 25 winners – including nine aces – and saved all four of the break points he faced from Samuel. He outpointed his opponent 71-58. It was the second win for Bergs over Samuels after beating him on grass in the Eastbourne semifinals earlier this year.

Afterward, Bergs was in a playful mood when he stood for his post-match interview, glad that he put on a good show for the home fans – especially after bowing in the opening round in Brussels a year ago after reaching the quarterfinals in 2024.

“I felt very happy to see you all,” Bergs said during his on-court interview with host Sabine Appelmans, when he was asked to describe the feeling of walking out on court to a huge ovation. “After a while, though, I was a little bit distracted. I was like ‘I know that face, I know that face, I know that face’, so I had to zone in. That was important. 

“You guys were there when I needed [you].

“I got a little bit tired. I feel the jet lag is still a little bit in me. After I saved the break points, you got really behind me. I am really happy to walk on the court and have [this crowd] behind me.”

Bergs’s next opponent will be the winner of Wednesday’s tussle between No. 95 Dino Prizmic of Croatia and 83rd-ranked Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia-Herzegovina, who on Sunday won an ATP Challenger 125 title in Olbia, Italy.

After Bergs’s win, No. 55 Collignon was featured in the second half of the Belgian doubleheader on Centre Court against 134th-ranked American qualifier Nishesh Basavareddy. While it took the Belgian No. 3 a while to get on track – maybe he was trying too hard to impress the home fans – Collignon found his way to victory.

Down a set and a break, the 24-year-old Collignon beat Basavareddy, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, in two hours and 14 minutes. He finished with 32 winners to offset 26 unforced errors, and converted all four of his break-point chances. He was outpointed 91-88.

The victory was the first for Collignon since advancing to his first ATP Tour final in Gstaad last July – and it ended a string of six-straight losses. It was also the Belgian’s first match since losing in the first round of the US Open after squandering five match points against American Sebastian Gorzny.

Last year, Collignon advanced to his first ATP Tour semifinal in Brussels and became the third Belgian semifinalist at the event after David Goffin in 2016 and Ruben Bemelmans in 2017. Now, he’s hopeful of mounting a similar run. He will face No. 2 seed Jiri Lehecka of Czechia in the second round on Thursday.

Blockx withdraws from tournament

World No. 27 Alexander Blockx, the No. 1-ranked Belgian player, withdrew from the tournament on Tuesday afternoon, citing an ankle injury.

“Yesterday afternoon, I played in training against Zizou [Bergs] and I got a fierce stab in my ankle,” Blockx said during a news conference Tuesday, translated from Dutch. “It didn’t go away and I had an MRI done in the evening. It’s about a sprain on the same ankle where I had problems before. I need to take some rest now so it doesn’t get worse.”

Blockx added: “Very sad that I have to withdraw from this tournament. I was looking forward to it. My ankle injury is not super serious but exams showed that I can make it worse if I play. That’s why it’s a wise decision to sit this one out.

“Too bad I can’t play here at home.”

The No. 4-seed Blockx’s place in the main draw was taken by lucky loser Gauthier Onclin of Belgium, ranked 178th. In the second round, Onclin will play No. 58 Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany, who advanced over No. 88 Marcos Giron of the United States, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (3), in one hour and 33 minutes on Court 1. Struff struck 15 aces and hit 36 winners overall. He outpointed Giron 89-71.

Around the Brussels Expo

• Tallon Griekspoor was pushed to a decider in his first-round match against 19-year-old German wild card Max Schoenhaus before prevailing 7-6 (3), 6-7 (5), 7-5. By the end of the two-hour, 13-minute Centre Court match, the 30-year-old Dutchman’s experience got the best of Schoenhaus.

The 60th-ranked Griekspoor fired 34 aces, which accounted for more than half of his 65 first-serve points won. He hit 53 winners overall and saved all three break points he faced. Griekspoor broke the 302nd-ranked Schoenhaus’s serve once in three tries and ouptointed him 118-103. It added up to just the 14th victory this year for Griekspoor, in what has been a disappointing 14-21 season.

Griekspoor, 30, who is just 2-5 in his last six matches, has earned 12 of his 14 wins this season on hard courts, highlighted by his run to the Dubai final last February.

Asked during his on-court interview what aspects of his game he was pleased about against Schoenhaus, Griekspoor said: “Honestly, only my serve. It was a very, very tough battle. A lot of credit to Max for playing this level for two-and-a-half hours and three long sets. This match was very much not easy. I’m very pleased to come through.”

Next, Griekspoor will play No. 8 seed Mariano Navone of Argentina, ranked 45th. Navone won an all-Argentine battle against No. 53 Juan Manuel Cerundolo, 7-6 (10), 6-2, in one hour and 45 minutes on Court 1. Navone hit 17 winners and outpointed Cerundolo 69-62 in their first tour-level meeting after Navone won three of four encounters on the ATP Challenger Tour between 2022-25.

• World No. 10 and top seed Arthur Fils of France received a walkover into Friday’s quarterfinals after his second-round opponent, No, 51 Jaume Munar of Spain, withdrew from the tournament on Tuesday afternoon, citing a back injury.

Munar won his first-round match over 135th-ranked Italian qualifier Federico Cina on Monday.

• In doubles, Nicolas Barrientos of Colombia and David Pel of the Netherlands advanced to the quarterfinals with a 4-6, 7-6 (1), 10-2 victory in one hour and 30 minutes over Marcelo Melo of Brazil and John-Patrick Smith of Australia, on Court 1. Despite going 0-for-10 in break-point conversions, the Colombian/Dutch duo outpointed their opponents 76-54 to advance against the winner of Wednesday’s match between No. 1 seeds Guido Andreozzi of Argentina and Manuel Guinard of France and Belgian wild cards Michael Geerts and Joran Vliegen.

• No. 2 seeds Orlando Luz and Rafael Matos of Brazil defeated Sander Arends of the Netherlands and Luke Johnson of Great Britain, 7-5, 6-4, in an hour and 20 minutes to earn a berth in the quarterfinal round against Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina and Alexander Michelsen of the United States. The Brazilians outpointed Arends and Johnson 64-59.

• Dutch pair Tallon Griekspoor and Botic van de Zandschulp pulled out of the doubles competition on Tuesday, giving their quarterfinal opponents, Sadio Doumbia of France and Bart Stevens of the Netherlands, a walkover into the semifinals.

Tuesday’s European Open results

Wednesday’s European Open order of play

By the numbers

Zizou Bergs, who is making his fifth main draw appearance at the European Open, has advanced to the second round for the third time. He leads all Belgians in tour-level wins on the ATP Tour this season with 24.

“Quotable …”

“It’s my first time in Brussels [playing in the tournament], but I’ve been coming to practice in Brussels for four or five years earlier in my career. I’ve practiced a lot with all of the Belgium guys for many, many years. It does feel a little bit like a second home tournament.”

– Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands, during his on-court interview Tuesday after winning his first-round match against Max Schoenhaus.

 

Search

Brigitte Urban
Tennis photographer
camera lens

International Blogs

Michael Dickens

A Czech Legacy Continues With Its Latest Billie Jean King Cup Success

October 1, 2026

Florian Heer

Carlos Bernardes: Vom Schiedsrichterstuhl zum Challenger-Turnierdirektor

April 22, 2026

Podcast

Categories