Logic was respected this Sunday: arrived with the status of top seed of the tournament, French Arthur Rinderknech (90th) eventually managed to take down Belgium Joris De Loore (211st) in a final which will remain as the most beautiful one of the young history of Play In Challenger Lille (6th edition)!
As all matches of the week which lasted more than 2 hours (6) were played by both of them, it was nearly written that this final would go until the decisive set, with an unbelievable suspense, and an unbreathable tie-break, which will have seen the French saving two match points. The second one will have been the good one but with an astonishing crossed forehand to put an end to this final, which lasted 2h34.
« It was written this final would end up once again in three sets. Surely the tougher match of the week. I am very happy of this victory. The result validates all efforts performed during training », enjoyed Arthur Rinderknech. French player was very regular in his game all along the week and mobilized all his strengths this Sunday, cheered up by more than 1 000 people, in Lille. « I love playing in this atmosphere and in France. I feed up of the audience», mentioned native from Gassin (Var), who will gain 7 ATP rankings and will stand at the 83rd position from this Monday.
Arthur Rinderknech is the fifth player to register his name to Play In Challenger Lille’s record, after Grégoire Barrère (2018, 2019), Zizou Bergs (2021), Quentin Halys (2022) and Otto Virtanen (2023).