Gilles Arnaud Bailly Earns First ATP Tour Victory In Brussels

Gilles Arnaud Bailly
Gilles Arnaud Bailly (photo: Belga/Jasper Jacobs)

BRUSSELS/WASHINGTON, October 15, 2025 (by Michael Dickens)

Belgium’s Gilles Arnaud Bailly is a former World No. 1 junior, who earned his first ATP ranking point three years ago, broke into the Top 500 in 2023 and achieved a career-high ranking of No. 247 earlier this month, after reaching his first ATP Challenger Tour final at Porto-2 on clay.

However, until Tuesday afternoon at the BNP Paribas Fortis European Open in Brussels, the 20-year-old from Hasselt had never been able to secure a victory in his home country’s ATP Tour tournament. He made his ATP Tour debut at Antwerp in 2022 as a wild card and lost in the opening round to then-Belgian No. 1 David Goffin in three sets. Then, he qualified for a main draw appearance last year but also went out in the first round.

In his third try, after winning a pair of matches earlier this week to qualify for the main draw, Bailly finally won his first ATP Tour match. After defeating No. 51 Daniel Altmaier of Germany, 6-4, 6-7 (10), 6-3, in two hours and 38 minutes on the Palais 12 Centre Court at the Brussels Expo, Bailly’s nascent career seems headed in the right direction. His triumph over Altmaier was sweet since it was the 27-year-old German that eliminated Bailly in straight sets a year ago and had never lost to a Belgian at tour level before Tuesday.

During his on-court interview following his victory, Bailly was asked how it felt to finally be a winner in his home event. “Unbelievable. Thank you very much everyone for coming. Thank you,” he said, beaming a big smile as he soaked in the applause. “It’s great to play in front of my friends, my family. I just always look forward to playing this tournament, to win one match in the main draw and to have another match is just amazing.”

Bailly, who was unable to convert a pair of match points during a lengthy, 22-point second-set tie-break, maintained his composure and finally broke Altmaier to go ahead 5-3 in the decider. This time, the 20-year-old cashed in on his opportunity by hitting a seventh-shot backhand passing shot winner on his third match-point opportunity. He became the youngest Belgian to win a main-draw match in tournament history and the youngest player from Belgium to win an ATP Tour match since Olivier Rochus 25 years ago at Tokyo in 2000.

By the completion, Bailly finished with 25 winners to 24 unforced errors, won 79 percent (56 of 71) of his first-serve points, saved 10 of 11 break points he faced from Altmaier and broke his opponent three times in seven opportunities. Bailly outpointed Altmaier 106-96. The German No. 2 finished with 39 winners – including 19 aces – but also committed 37 unforced errors.

In the second round, Bailly will be tested when he faces World No. 17 Jiri Lehecka of Czechia, who will bring a 38-19 win-loss record into Wednesday afternoon’s match. He will try to build upon his triumph over Altmaier after compiling an 11-14 career record at the ATP Challenger Tour level as well as going 91-49 on the ITF World Tennis Tour (6-4 in finals, including his most recent title last month at the M25 event in Meerbusch, Germany). Bailly is 65-22 in all competitions this season.

When Bailly was asked what improvements he’s made to his game since his last appearance at the European Open a year ago, he said: “I tried to serve a little bigger and I tried to play more aggressive. I feel [my game] is going in the right direction. But there is still a lot to do.”

Collignon upsets Bergs to highlight Belgian Day

While it was fitting that up-and-coming Gilles Arnaud Bailly triumphed on Belgian Day in Brussels, later on, fellow Belgians David Goffin, Raphael Collignon and Zizou Bergs were all in action, too. Their presence helped fill the 9,500-seat Palais 12 Centre Court inside Brussels Expo on the second day of main-draw play.

First, the 34-year-old Goffin, who received a wild card into the main draw ranked 105th, lost to No. 68 Francisco Comesana of Argentina, 7-6 (5), 6-4, in one hour and 35 minutes. Goffin, whose best showing in the European Open was a semifinal finish in 2016, was outpointed by the Argentine 72-61.

Then, in a featured evening match between the eighth-seeded Bergs, ranked No. 39, and the 90th-ranked wild card Collignon, it was Collignon who prevailed, 6-4, 7-6 (5), in one hour and 59 minutes to set up a second-round meeting Wednesday evening against Comesana. The first game of the all-Belgian clash between Collignon and Bergs lasted nearly 10 minutes and it set the tone for the remainder of the match.

At 4-all in the opening set, Collignon broke Bergs, then consolidated the break to win the set. After failing to serve out the match while leading 5-4 in the second set, Collignon recovered from 1-4 down in the second-set tie-break to garner his first victory in Belgium, after losing in the first round in his debut last year. He’s now 3-3 against Top-50 competition, including wins over World No. 12 Casper Ruud at the US Open in August and World No. 7 Alex de Minaur during Davis Cup play last month.

Bergs, who was seeded at an ATP Tour event for the first time in his career, aimed to become the fifth Belgian man to record 30 wins in a single season. He entered play on a career-high ranking after reaching the Rolex Shanghai Masters quarterfinals last week, including wins over Ruud and World No. 21 Francisco Cerundolo. 

“I just got back from China, so the jet lag is still there a bit,” Bergs said Monday during Media Day. “But my tennis has been good lately, and I’m trying to build on that. It feels great to be back in Belgium, the support I get from the crowd and everyone around me means a lot.”

However, the current Belgian No. 1 was denied by the upstart Collignon, who hit 21 winners to 22 unforced errors, won 85 percent (44 of 52) of his first-serve points, saved three of four break points he faced and broke Bergs twice in eight attempts. He outpointed his opponent 80-76. Bergs countered with 31 winners but also committed 34 unforced errors.

“Raphael has developed a lot recently and become a very complete player,” Bergs admitted. “I’ve seen that during our Davis Cup training sessions.”

Meanwhile, Collignon admitted in his post-match interview that it was a “great but tough” match with Bergs. “We like each other so much and have shared some great moments in Davis Cup and over the years. I wish [Zizou] all the best. 

“Mentally, I now believe more in myself and I know that I can beat top players. I come to the court with faith in my strengths. I worked hard with [Belgian Davis Cup captain] Steve Darcis to be here. … I’m happy with the way I played and the way the match ended.”

Around the Brussels Expo

• Botic van de Zandschulp fired 32 winners – including 15 aces – and won his first tour-level match since reaching the Winston-Salem final in August with a 7-5, 7-6 (2) victory over No. 7 seed Joao Fonseca of Brazil in two hours and two minutes. The victory by the 86th-ranked Dutchman in a featured Centre Court match Tuesday evening broke a personal five-match losing streak and advanced him to the second round against 111th-ranked American qualifier Eliot Spizzirri, who upset No. 89 Pedro Martinez of Spain, 6-4, 6-1, in an hour and 17 minutes on Court 1.

A calm and focused Van de Zandschulp dropped just six points on his first serve, won 88 percent (42 of 48) of his first-serve points and converted three of eight break points against the 19-year-old Fonseca, ranked 45th. He also won 55 percent (22 of 40) of his second-serve return points and outpointed Fonseca 92-76. The reigning Next Gen ATP Finals champion hit 22 winners but also committed 31 unforced errors. He converted two of four break points against van de Zandschulp but it wasn’t enough to keep his opponent from winning.

“I played a really good match and served unbelievably well,” said the soft-spoken van de Zandschulp, who reached the second round in Belgium for the third time. “Also returning in certain moments I think was the key to winning this match. We played a lot of important points and I kept my focus the entire match.”

• Valentin Royer of France entered the draw as a lucky loser after defending champion Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain withdrew on Monday due to a right leg injury. On Tuesday, the 24-year-old Frenchman showed patience and played steady tennis en route to defeating No. 44 Sebastian Baez of Argentina, 6-2, 6-3, in one hour and 14 minutes on Centre Court. It was the second-straight year in Belgium that Baez has gone out in his opening-round match.

Currently at a career-high ranking of No. 70, Royer has earned six of his nine career tour-level wins in the past three weeks, thanks to his run to the Hangzhou final and by reaching the second round at Shanghai. He improved to 4-4 against Top-50 competition with his victory over Baez by hitting 21 winners to 18 unforced errors, winning 87 percent (26 of 30) of his first-serve points and converting three of 11 break points. Royer outpointed his opponent 63-40.

“I’m very happy, especially because I’m a lucky loser,” said Royer, who improved to 9-7 on tour-level this season and will face fellow Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi, ranked 53rd, in the second round on Wednesday.

“I lost yesterday against Bailly. He won today and I’m so happy for him. The fact I was able to have two matches on these courts has helped me so very much. It’s good for my game, especially against a player like [Baez], who wants to have time and be patient in the rally. I played my game, punched him and played hard and fast with my forehand. That what I did and I’m very happy with my victory.”

• Also advancing to the second round: No. 5 seed Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard of France, ranked 37th, who fired 39 aces and fought past No. 513 Emil Ruusuvuori of Finland, who entered with a protected ranking, 7-6 (4), 6-7 (5), 6-4, in two hours and eight minutes on Court No. 1. One of Mpetshi Perricard’s first serves was clocked at 244 km/h.

Tuesday’s European Open results

Wednesday’s European Open order of play

By the numbers

Joao Fonseca was seeded at an ATP Tour event for the first time in his career, becoming the first Brazilian man to be seeded at this level since Thiago Monteiro at Cordoba in 2021. He is No. 3 on the PIF ATP Live Race to Jeddah, behind Jakub Mensik and Learner Tien.

“Quotable …”

“The BNP Paribas Fortis European Open is an important tournament for me. I have great memories here, and I want to learn from last year’s mistakes. Of course, I’d like to go one step further, but I know it won’t be easy. The field is extremely strong, and we’re seen all season that anyone can beat anyone. 

“Czech tennis has grown a lot over the past few years, and I’m proud to contribute to that. My biggest goal is to one day win a Grand Slam, so I just have to keep working and improving every day.”

– World No. 17 Jiri Lehecka of Czechia, from Monday’s Media Day. The No. 3 seed Lehecka will play Gilles Arnaud Bailly of Belgium in his opening match Wednesday afternoon.

 

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