VANCOUVER/STARNBERG, August 22, 2022
The summer of Constant Lestienne continued on Sunday as he topped countryman Arthur Rinderknech 6-0, 4-6, 6-3 to win the $159,360 Odlum Brown VanOpen, an ATP Challenger Tour 125 event hosted by the Hollyburn Country Club in West Vancouver, Canada.
For Lestienne, it’s his third Challenger title in the last two months after claiming the crown in a pair of Spanish tournaments in Malaga and Pozoblanco in July. Both he and Rinderknech hail from France, and in Lestienne’s case, Sunday’s final marked the second straight match where he had to beat a compatriot.
Unstoppable 🔥
🇫🇷 @constlalest claims his third ATP Challenger title of the year after a 6-0, 4-6, 6-3 win over Rinderknech in Vancouver!#ATPChallenger | @vanopentennis pic.twitter.com/mKgNyTjtnR
— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) August 21, 2022
“Playing a countryman is happening a lot of times so now I’m a little more used to it,” the 30-year-old explained. “Sometimes when you know the guy pretty well, it’s a bit more complicated because you have to focus only on the game.”
Lestienne, the tournament’s fifth seed, capitalized on three of his four break-point chances to secure victory in one hour and 53 minutes.
“The match with Arthur was tough, we know each other, we’re friends and it’s never easy to play against each other. You have to forget that you are friends and try to give your best, so today it went to me, it was really tight and maybe the next one will go to Arthur, he’s a good player.”
As for the roll he’s on this summer, Lestienne doesn’t have much of an explanation other than the fact that he’s just put his head down and tried to grind out each match. “I don’t really have an answer. I’ve just been keeping working and fighting. I can’t believe I’ve won so many matches in the last (few) weeks.”
With the win in Vancouver, the World No. 94 has now reached the final in four of five tournaments since Wimbledon in June and has the most match wins on the ATP Challenger Tour with a 38-16 record, including coming out on top in 19 of his last 21 matches. Lestienne earned $21,600 in prize money as well as 125 ATP Ranking points.
