PAU/STARNBERG, February 12, 2026
After being pushed to the brink and even close to defeat, Benjamin Bonzi and Arthur Bouquier produced two eye-catching victories on Wednesday, while defending champion Raphael Collignon once again underlined that he is a serious contender to retain his title at the Teréga Open Pau-Pyrénées.
Clement Chidekh will leave the court with a few regrets despite a very solid performance against second seed Alexander Shevchenko. The Frenchman had four chances to force a deciding set, but the world No. 84 held firm to close out a 6-4, 7-6 win. The Kazakh will next face Daniil Glinka, who came through an all-Estonian clash at TC Pau after Mark Lajal was forced to retire while trailing 6-3, 4-3.
Benjamin Bonzi delivered one of the highlights of the day by outlasting lucky loser Mikhail Kukushkin in a three-hour and 16-minute marathon, the longest match of the tournament so far. Trailing by a set and a break, and later forced to save two match points against an opponent perfectly equipped to disrupt his rhythm, the Frenchman showed great courage and resilience to turn the match around and claim a dramatic 5-7, 7-6, 7-6 victory. His reward is a second-round meeting with Switzerland’s Leandro Riedi.
The highly anticipated rematch between the finalists of the 2025 edition once again went the way of Raphael Collignon. Patrick Zahraj pushed the top seed hard and even earned a set point in the opening set, but the Belgian raised his level at the crucial moments and then pulled away decisively in the second set to seal a 7-5, 6-2 win.
Reigning champion rules
Collignon opens his Pau title defence posting 7-5, 6-2 against Zahraj#ATPChallenger | @TeregaOpen pic.twitter.com/kAntNXwrb5
— ATP Challenger (@ATPChallenger) February 11, 2026
In the first match of the day counting towards the second round, Arthur Bouquier thrilled the Pau crowd once more with a spectacular battle against fourth seed Luca Nardi. True to his bold temperament, the Frenchman was fearless in the key moments, even daring to hit an underarm serve on second serve at 4-4 in the final tie-break, before clinching a memorable 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 victory. Elsewhere, German qualifier Henri Squire continued his fine run by defeating Giulio Zeppieri 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 to record his fourth consecutive win.
