A Touch Of Belgium Fuels Hanfmann’s Winning Streak In Brussels

Yannick Hanfmann
Yannick Hanfmann (photo: Belga/Zeno Druyts)

BRUSSELS/WASHINGTON, October 16, 2025 (by Michael Dickens)

Belgium has become like a home away from home for Yannick Hanfmann. The 33-year-old German, who was born in Karlsruhe and helped lead the University of Southern California to two NCAA collegiate titles in the United States, now resides in Antwerp, a port city on the River Scheldt with a lengthy history dating to the Middle Ages.

Hanfmann even has a steady Belgian girlfriend. So, it should come as no surprise that this week’s BNP Paribas Fortis European Open in Brussels feels like a home tournament for him.

On Wednesday afternoon, Hanfmann was well-supported by the mostly-Belgian crowd that came out to the Palais 12 Centre Court in Brussels Expo to witness his first-round match against No. 74 Matteo Arnaldi of Italy. By the end of the two-hour and 30-minute tussle, the 139th-ranked qualifier rallied from a set and a break down to win 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-4. He became the fourth qualifier in the tournament this week to win his first-round match.

Hanfmann, who improved his 2025 tour-level win-loss record to 9-11 and is 39-24 in all competitions, struck 16 aces and hit 48 winners overall to advance to Thursday’s second round against World No. 8 and top seed Lorenzo Musetti of Italy. 

Against Arnaldi, Hanfmann won 78 percent (49 of 63) of his first-serve points and backed it by winning 66 percent (21 of 32) of the points played on his second serve. As Arnaldi became passive, Hanfmann stepped up in the big moments and played pro-active tennis – and it made a difference. It was the 10th time this season he’s come back to win after losing the first set. 

Hanfmann was broken just once and converted three of four break points against the 24-year-old Arnaldi. He outpointed his opponent 105-92. By winning, Hanfmann prevented Arnaldi from becoming the fifth Italian man to reach the 20-win plateau this season.

In his only prior main draw appearance at the European Open, in 2023, Hanfmann defeated former World No. 3 Dominic Thiem in the second round before losing to then-World No. 7 Stefanos Tsitsipas.

While Hanfmann has played a lot of tennis in Brussels this week – already winning two qualifying-draw matches just to reach the main draw and following a surprising run to the third round in Shanghai as a qualifier – he said it’s been a confidence-building experience. 

“For sure. It’s been a lot of weeks with a lot tennis, which in a way is good for your mental state, somehow,” Hanfmann said during his on-court interview. “Sometimes, it can be bad for your physical state. But I felt good [against Arnaldi].

“Obviously, losing a first-set tie-break is always tough. In the finals of qualies, I lost a first-set tie-break as well. So, I try to remind myself, ‘keep playing, keep going, you’re going to get your chances.’ I served incredible [today]. That’s been the key to keep myself in matches. The atmosphere was really nice, too.”

Hanfmann said after the grind of near-non stop traveling on the ATP Tour, coming home – even for just a week – can be a nice respite from the usual routine of going from airport to hotel to tournament arena and back. “This is somewhat of a home tournament for me,” he admitted, smiling as he spoke. “Having tournaments close to home is always really helpful. Yes, there’s a little bit of Belgium in me.”

Lehecka ends Bailly’s run in Brussels

No. 3 seed Jiri Lehecka of Czechia ended the Brussels run of 247th-ranked Belgian qualifier Gilles Arnaud Bailly, 6-3, 6-2, in a 74-minute featured Wednesday afternoon match on Centre Court. Last year’s finalist, Lehecka is now through to his seventh quarterfinal of the season and 22nd at tour-level overall. Simply, he was too much for the 20-year-old Belgian. A day earlier, Bailly advanced with a three-set upset of No. 51 Daniel Altmaier of Germany. Against Lehecka, there would be no repeat performance.

The World No. 17 Lehecka, who played steady and focused tennis throughout, fired 11 aces and hit 28 winners overall to 20 unforced errors in collecting his 27th hard-court victory of the season – fifth-best on the ATP Tour. He won 83 percent (30 of 36) of the points on his first serve, saved the only break point he faced and converted three of six chances – including two of five in the second set – against Bailly. The Czech No. 1 outpointed his opponent 64-39. By comparison, Bailly was able to muster just six winners against 20 unforced errors.

Last year, Lehecka strung together four quality wins before losing the European Open title to Robert Bautista Agut of Spain. He’s 5-1 lifetime at the tournament. During his on-court interview after securing his 39th overall win of the season, he said he’s glad to be back in Belgium.

“Oh, yes, definitely. I’m very happy to be back. This tournament has been good for me,” Lehecka said. “I knew if I was going to play this week, it was going to be in Brussels. Happy to be back playing in front of the fans. Happy with my performance today.

“On the ATP Tour, there is no easy match. For me, he most important thing to focus on is to take it point by point, match by match. I’m just trying to be focused in the moment and bring my best.”

On Friday, Lehecka will face No. 53 Benjamin Bonzi of France, who eliminated 70th-ranked French lucky loser Valentin Royer, 7-6 (3), 4-6, 6-1, in two hours and seven minutes on Court 1. Bonzi finished with 10 aces and outpointed Royer 99-77.

Collignon beats Comesana on sixth match-point opportunity

Wild card Raphael Collignon of Belgium reached his first career ATP Tour quarterfinal – and it’s one he won’t soon forget. The 23-year-old, 90th-ranked Belgian went the distance and beat No. 68 Francisco Comesana of Argentina on his sixth match-point opportunity, 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (10), in two hours and 36 minutes on Centre Court.

After defeating Belgian No. 1 Zizou Bergs in the first round on Tuesday evening, Collignon earned the first ATP Tour last eight berth of his career. After letting five match points slip by during a third-set tie-break against Comesana, Collignon finally put away the victory – his seventh of the season at tour-level – to advance to Friday’s quarterfinal round. The only Belgian remaining in the singles draw, he will play World No. 20 and fourth seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain, who went the distance to defeat No. 54 Marcos Giron of the United States, 6-7 (5), 6-1, 6-4, in two hours and 14 minutes on Centre Court Wednesday evening. Davidovich Fokina compiled 33 winners, overcame 39 unforced errors and outpointed Giron 101-88.

Collignon struck 31 winners overall – including eight aces – and won 82 percent (58 of 71) of his first-serve points. He broke Comesana’s serve once and was outpointed by his opponent 108-103. The American-born native of Liege, Belgium, Collignon saved a match point at 10-9 after unsuccessfully converting five earlier match-points opportunities during the third-set tiebreaker. Finally, ahead 11-10, Collignon prevailed to become the fourth Belgian to reach the quarterfinals in tournament history.

“I’m feeling good,” Collignon said after collecting his seventh victory at tour-level this season. He’s 37-19 in all competitions this year, including a couple of ATP Challenger Tour titles won at Pau, France and Monza, Italy. “It’s crazy playing with all the crowd pushing. Thank you so much everybody! I was counting the match points in my head and I knew it would be tough if I lose this one. I just tried to focus on the serve and I won. It’s crazy.”

Around the Brussels Expo

• No. 67 Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia-Herzegovina advanced to a Thursday second round match-up against World No. 10 and second seed Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada with a 6-7 (5), 6-2, 7-6 (3) comeback victory over 226th-ranked Italian wild card Federico Cina in two hours and 43 minutes on Court 1.

• Qualifier Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia, ranked 101st, defeated No. 77 Quentin Halys of France, 6-4, 6-4, in one hour and 22 minutes on Court 1 to advance to the second round against No. 5 seed Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard of France. It was Basilashvili’s three career win over Halys in three tour-level meetings.

• In doubles, No. 1 seeds Hugo Nys of Monaco and Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France advanced to the quarterfinal round with a 7-5, 6-2 victory over Daniel Altmaier of Germany and Santiago Gonzalez of Mexico. Next, they will face Ariel Behar of Uruguay and Joran Vliegan of Belgium on Thursday.

• No. 2 seeds Christian Harrison and Evan King of the United States advanced over Spain’s Marcel Granollers and Pedro Martinez after just nine minutes, ahead 3-0, due to an injury suffered by Granollers. In the quarterfinal round, they will face Petr Nouza and Patrik Rikl of Czechia on Thursday.

• In an all-Brazilian battle, No. 4 seeds Rafael Matos and Marcelo Melo defeated Marcel Demoliner and Orlando Luz, 7-6 (4), 6-3, to advance to Thursday’s quarterfinal round against Belgium’s Alexander Blockx and Tibo Colson.

• Frenchmen Benjamin Bonzi and Pierre-Hugues Herbert became the first team to reach the doubles semifinals after defeating Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Piotr Matuszewski of Poland, 7-5, 6-1.

Wednesday’s European Open results

Thursday’s European Open order of play

By the numbers

Yannick Hanfmann of Germany reached the 28-player main draw after earning qualifying wins over Calvin Hemery of France and Tibo Colton of Belgium. It marked the eighth time this season Hanfmann has qualified for the main draw of a tournament, tied for most on the ATP Tour with Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia and Ethan Quinn of the United States.

“Quotable …”

“I’m ready to compete and happy to be here. … I’m really hungry for a title. I’m hoping this is going to be the week.”

– No. 1 seed Lorenzo Musetti of Italy, ranked World No. 8, during his pre-tournament news conference on Tuesday. Musetti is currently in eighth place in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin, a calendar-year points race that rewards the top players on the ATP Tour and eligible Grand Slam champions with a place at the eighth-player Nitto ATP Finals at the end of the season.

 

Search

Brigitte Urban
Tennis photographer
camera lens

International Blogs

Dietmar Kaspar

TC Augsburg sichert sich mit 8:1-Erfolg und Fremdhilfe den Titel in der 2. Bundesliga

August 10, 2025

Michael Dickens

The Warrior: Rafael Nadal And His Kingdom Of Clay

May 16, 2025

Marc Raffel

Zum 11. Mal ATP Tennis an Rhein & Ruhr in Meerbusch

March 28, 2025

Florian Heer

Arzel Mevellec über die Entwicklung des Rwanda Challenger: „Wir lernen jedes Mal dazu!”

March 5, 2025

Podcast

Categories