# Ruben Bemelmans

Ruben Bemelmans (Flemish pronunciation:; born 14 January 1988) is a Belgian coach and former professional tennis player. He has a career-high ATP ranking of world No. 84 in singles, achieved on 28 September 2015, and world No. 128 in doubles, achieved on 1 October 2012. Bemelmans competed mainly on the ATP Challenger Tour.

## Career
### 2006–2009: Turned Pro

Bemelmans won his first Futures event in Espelkamp, Germany in July 2007. His best performance to date was in winning the Volkswagen Challenger event in Wolfsburg in March 2009, winning three matches in qualifying before going on to beat Stefano Galvani of Italy in the final. He won this tournament again in 2011.

### 2010–2014: ATP and Grand Slam debut, Hopman Cup finalist

In February 2010 Bemelmans succeeded in qualifying for his first ATP level event, the Zagreb Indoors tournament. However he lost in the first round to Alexandre Sidorenko of France in three sets.
In June 2010, he entered the main draw of the 2010 Gerry Weber Open in Halle as a lucky loser. In the opening round he lost to German Philipp Kohlschreiber in three close sets.
In September 2010, Ruben played for Belgium in the Davis cup play-off tie against Australia. He was a late replacement for an injured Steve Darcis. He played Lleyton Hewitt and after a solid effort, he succumbed in a 6–7, 5–7, 6–2, 4–6 duel.
In January 2011, Bemelmans was invited to represent Belgium in the Hopman Cup alongside Justine Henin. They reached the final, beating Kazakhstan and Serbia along the way, where they were defeated by USA 2–1.
Bemelmans won his first match in a Grand Slam main draw at 2012 Wimbledon, defeating Carlos Berlocq in 4 sets. He was bested by Richard Gasquet in straight sets in the second round. About a month later, Bemelmans (playing doubles with fellow countryman Xavier Malisse) won his first title on the ATP Tour, the 250 level Los Angeles Open.
In 2013, Bemelmans made the final of 2 Challenger Tour events, Nottingham (a Challenger event from 2011 to 2014) and Eckental where he lost to Steve Johnson and Benjamin Becker respectively. As a qualifier, Bemelmans reached the quarterfinals of Vienna in 2013, defeating No. 4 seed Philipp Kohlschreiber en route.
2014 saw Bemelmans have another strong showing at Eckental, this time winning the tournament, beating 2012 champion Daniel Brands en route.

### 2015–2018: US Open and Wimbledon third rounds

In September 2015, Bemelmans defeated Gilles Müller and Jack Sock (retired) to reach the third round of the US Open where he lost against Switzerland's Stan Wawrinka in three sets.
He was unable to defend his title in Eckental however, falling in the semi-finals to Benjamin Becker. Bemelmans also played an active part in the Belgian Davis Cup team that reached the final that season, and played the second singles rubber where he was beaten by Andy Murray.
Bemelmans made 2 Challenger finals late in 2016, at Charlottesville and Champaign.
In 2017, Bemelmans won the title in Koblenz, which pushed him back inside the Top 150, before losing to Denis Shapovalov in the final of the Challenger in Drummondville.
He then made the third round of Wimbledon, his best result at the tournament, beating former world No. 2 Tommy Haas in the first round.
The 2018 Australian Open saw Bemelmans win his first match at the tournament in 3 main draw appearances when he earned a credible first round victory over 18th seed Lucas Pouille.
At the 2018 French Open he made it past the first round for the second consecutive grand slam when he beat Yuki Bhambri in his opening match. However he lost in five sets in round two to Estonian Jürgen Zopp.
Bemelmans qualified for the 2018 Wimbledon Championships defeating Bernard Tomic in the final qualifying round. He then defeated American Steve Johnson in five sets to reach round 2 of a slam for the third consecutive time in 2018.

### 2019–2022: Retirement

He made history when he qualified for an Open Era record sixth time at the 2019 Wimbledon Championships beating American Donald Young 6–4, 6–4, 6–1. Bemelmans had been tied for the qualifying record with Alejandro Falla, Ken Flach, Edouard Roger-Vasselin and Jimmy Wang.
In February 2021, He won his sixth singles Challenger title at the 2021 Challenger La Manche defeating Lukáš Rosol. In September, he also won his tenth doubles Challenger title at the 2021 Challenger Biel/Bienne partnering Daniel Masur.
He played his last singles professional match in the qualifying draw as a wildcard at the 2022 European Open in Antwerp. He also participated in the doubles event having received also a wildcard partnering compatriot Alexander Blockx where he lost in the first round.

## ATP career finals
### Doubles: 1 (1 title)

* Legend
* Grand Slam Tournaments (0–0)
* ATP World Tour Finals (0–0)
* ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (0–0)
* ATP World Tour 500 Series (0–0)
* ATP World Tour 250 Series (1–0)
* Finals by surface
* Hard (1–0)
* Clay (0–0)
* Grass (0–0)
* Carpet (0–0)
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
| Win | 1–0 | Jul 2012 | Los Angeles Open, US | 250 Series | Hard | Xavier Malisse | Jamie Delgado Ken Skupski | 7–6$^{(7–5)}$, 4–6, [10–7] |

## Team competition finals

| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Surface | Partners | Opponents | Score |
| Loss | 0–1 | Jan 2011 | Hopman Cup, Perth, Western Australia | Hard | Justine Henin | Bethanie Mattek-Sands John Isner | 1–2 |
| Loss | 0–2 | Nov 2015 | Davis Cup, Ghent, Belgium | Clay (i) | David Goffin Steve Darcis Kimmer Coppejans | Andy Murray Kyle Edmund James Ward Jamie Murray | 1–3 |
| Loss | 0–3 | Nov 2017 | Davis Cup, Lille, France | Hard (i) | David Goffin Steve Darcis Joris De Loore | Jo-Wilfried Tsonga Lucas Pouille Richard Gasquet Pierre-Hugues Herbert | 2–3 |

## Challenger and Futures finals
### Singles: 37 (20–17)

* Legend (singles)
* ATP Challenger Tour (6–13)
* ITF Futures Tour (14–4)
* Titles by surface
* Hard (12–8)
* Clay (2–3)
* Grass (0–1)
* Carpet (6–5)
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Opponent | Score |
| Loss | 0–1 | Mar 2007 | Sweden F1, Malmö | Futures | Hard (i) | Pablo Figueroa | 6–7$^{(8–10)}$, 5–7 |
| Loss | 0–2 | Jun 2007 | Romania F5, Bacău | Futures | Clay | Artemon Apostu-Efremov | 2–6, 0–6 |
| Loss | 0–3 | Jul 2007 | Germany F9, Römerberg | Futures | Clay | Dustin Brown | 3–6, 6–7$^{(4–7)}$ |
| Win | 1–3 | Jul 2007 | Germany F10, Espelkamp | Futures | Clay | Franz Stauder | 6–2, 7–5 |
| Win | 2–3 | Nov 2007 | Israel F4, Ramat HaSharon | Futures | Hard | Niels Desein | 6–3, 6–3 |
| Loss | 2–4 | Jan 2008 | Germany F3, Kaarst | Futures | Carpet (i) | Jeroen Masson | 2–6, 6–4, 2–6 |
| Win | 3–4 | Mar 2008 | Switzerland F2, Bassersdorf | Futures | Carpet (i) | Ladislav Chramosta | 3–6, 6–3, 6–2 |
| Win | 4–4 | May 2008 | Italy F15, Cesena | Futures | Clay | Carlos Avellán | 6–4, 3–6, 6–0 |
| Loss | 4–5 | Nov 2008 | Aachen, Germany | Challenger | Carpet (i) | Evgeny Korolev | 6–7$^{(5–7)}$, 6–7$^{(3–7)}$ |
| Win | 5–5 | Feb 2009 | France F3, Bressuire | Futures | Hard (i) | Vincent Millot | 6–4, 6–3 |
| Win | 6–5 | Mar 2009 | Wolfsburg, Germany | Challenger | Carpet (i) | Stefano Galvani | 7–6$^{(7–5)}$, 3–6, 6–3 |
| Win | 7–5 | Sep 2009 | France F15, Plaisir | Futures | Hard (i) | Pierrick Ysern | 6–7$^{(5–7)}$, 6–1, 7–5 |
| Win | 8–5 | Mar 2010 | France F4, Lille | Futures | Hard (i) | Niels Desein | 6–4, 6–2 |
| Win | 9–5 | Mar 2010 | France F5, Poitiers | Futures | Hard (i) | Charles-Antoine Brézac | 6–4, 4–6, 6–4 |
| Win | 10–5 | Jul 2010 | Spain F23, Palma del Río | Futures | Hard | Niels Desein | 4–6, 6–4, 7–6$^{(7–1)}$ |
| Loss | 10–6 | Nov 2010 | Eckental, Germany | Challenger | Carpet (i) | Igor Sijsling | 6–3, 2–6, 3–6 |
| Win | 11–6 | Feb 2011 | Wolfsburg, Germany | Challenger | Carpet (i) | Dominik Meffert | 6–7$^{(8–10)}$, 6–4, 6–4 |
| Loss | 11–7 | Jan 2012 | Heilbronn, Germany | Challenger | Hard (i) | Björn Phau | 7–6$^{(7–4)}$, 3–6, 4–6 |
| Loss | 11–8 | May 2012 | Athens, Greece | Challenger | Hard | Marinko Matosevic | 3–6, 4–6 |
| Loss | 11–9 | Sep 2012 | Orléans, France | Challenger | Hard (i) | David Goffin | 4–6, 6–3, 3–6 |
| Loss | 11–10 | Jun 2013 | Nottingham, Great Britain | Challenger | Grass | Steve Johnson | 5–7, 5–7 |
| Loss | 11–11 | Nov 2013 | Eckental, Germany | Challenger | Carpet (i) | Benjamin Becker | 6–2, 6–7$^{(3–7)}$, 4–6 |
| Win | 12–11 | Nov 2014 | Eckental, Germany | Challenger | Carpet (i) | Tim Pütz | 7–6$^{(7–3)}$, 6–3 |
| Win | 13–11 | Feb 2015 | Germany F4, Nußloch | Futures | Carpet (i) | Maximilian Marterer | 6–3, 6–7$^{(2–7)}$, 7–6$^{(7–5)}$ |
| Loss | 13–12 | Feb 2015 | Glasgow, Great Britain | Challenger | Hard (i) | Niels Desein | 6–7$^{(4–7)}$, 6–2, 6–7$^{(4–7)}$ |
| Win | 14–12 | Apr 2015 | Le Gosier, Guadeloupe | Challenger | Hard | Édouard Roger-Vasselin | 7–6$^{(8–6)}$, 6–3 |
| Win | 15–12 | Jul 2016 | Belgium F5, Middelkerke | Futures | Hard | Yannick Mertens | 6–3, 6–7$^{(3–7)}$, 6–1 |
| Win | 16–12 | Oct 2016 | USA F34, Burlingame | Futures | Hard (i) | Sam Barry | 6–1, 6–2 |
| Loss | 16–13 | Nov 2016 | Charlottesville, USA | Challenger | Hard (i) | Reilly Opelka | 4–6, 6–2, 6–7$^{(5–7)}$ |
| Loss | 16–14 | Nov 2016 | Champaign, USA | Challenger | Hard (i) | Henri Laaksonen | 5–7, 3–6 |
| Win | 17–14 | Jan 2017 | Koblenz, Germany | Challenger | Hard (i) | Nils Langer | 6–4, 3–6, 7–6$^{(7–0)}$ |
| Loss | 17–15 | Mar 2017 | Drummondville, Canada | Challenger | Hard (i) | Denis Shapovalov | 3–6, 2–6 |
| Loss | 17–16 | Jul 2017 | Scheveningen, Netherlands | Challenger | Clay | Guillermo García López | 1–6, 7–6$^{(7–3)}$, 2–6 |
| Loss | 17–17 | Nov 2018 | Eckental, Germany | Challenger | Carpet (i) | Antoine Hoang | 5–7, 3–6 |
| Win | 18–17 | Jan 2020 | Germany M25, Nußloch | ITF World Tennis Tour | Carpet (i) | Jonáš Forejtek | 6–7$^{(4–7)}$, 7–6$^{(7–3)}$, 6–2 |
| Win | 19–17 | Mar 2020 | Italy M25, Trento | ITF World Tennis Tour | Hard (i) | Alexander Erler | 4–6, 6–2, 6–4 |
| Win | 20–17 | Feb 2021 | Cherbourg, France | Challenger | Hard (i) | Lukas Rosol | 6–4, 6–4 |

### Doubles: 40 (27–13)

* Legend (doubles)
* ATP Challenger Tour (13–9)
* ITF Futures Tour (14–4)
* Titles by surface
* Hard (18–9)
* Clay (6–2)
* Grass (0–1)
* Carpet (3–1)
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
| Win | 1–0 | Aug 2006 | Germany F11, Essen | Futures | Clay | Niels Desein | Antal van der Duim Boy Westerhof | 1–6, 7–5, 7–5 |
| Win | 2–0 | Feb 2007 | Spain F7, Cartagena | Futures | Hard | Yannick Mertens | Alessandro da Col Abel Hernández-García | 7–6$^{(7–2)}$, 6–2 |
| Loss | 2–1 | Jun 2007 | Netherlands F1, Alkmaar | Futures | Clay | Yannick Mertens | Romano Frantzen Nick van der Meer | 4–6, 6–4, 2–6 |
| Win | 3–1 | Jul 2007 | Germany F10, Espelkamp | Futures | Clay | Andre Begemann | Remko de Rijke Bas van der Valk | 6–3, 6–3 |
| Loss | 3–2 | Nov 2007 | Great Britain F21, Redbridge | Futures | Hard (i) | Niels Desein | Josh Goodall Ken Skupski | 7–5, 6–7$^{(3–7)}$, [5–10] |
| Win | 4–2 | Mar 2008 | France F5, Poitiers | Futures | Hard (i) | Stefan Wauters | Julien Jeanpierre Josselin Ouanna | 7–5, 6–4 |
| Loss | 4–3 | Apr 2008 | Turkey F5, Antalya | Futures | Clay | Yannick Mertens | Karim Maamoun Sherif Sabry | 6–3, 4–6, [10–12] |
| Win | 5–3 | May 2008 | Italy F15, Cesena | Futures | Clay | Horacio Zeballos | Antonio Pastorino Damián Patriarca | 6–2, 6–4 |
| Win | 6–3 | Jun 2008 | Slovenia F2, Maribor | Futures | Clay | Bart de Keersmaeker | Markus Hipfl Marco Mirnegg | 6–1, 6–3 |
| Win | 7–3 | Aug 2008 | Belgium F2, Koksijde | Futures | Clay | Niels Desein | Alexandre Folie David Goffin | 7–5, 7–5 |
| Win | 8–3 | Sep 2008 | France F14, Mulhouse | Futures | Hard (i) | Niels Desein | Dustin Brown Stefan Seifert | 7–6$^{(13–11)}$, 6–3 |
| Win | 9–3 | Oct 2008 | France F18, Saint-Dizier | Futures | Hard (i) | Niels Desein | Guillermo Alcaide Nikolai Nesterov | 6–4, 3–6, [10–6] |
| Loss | 9–4 | Sep 2009 | St Remy, France | Challenger | Hard | Niels Desein | Jiří Krkoška Lukáš Lacko | 1–6, 6–3, [3–10] |
| Win | 10–4 | Sep 2009 | France F14, Mulhouse | Futures | Hard (i) | Yannick Mertens | Konstantin Kravchuk Alexander Kudryavtsev | 6–3, 7–6$^{(8–6)}$ |
| Win | 11–4 | Mar 2010 | France F4, Lille | Futures | Hard (i) | Niels Desein | Raven Klaasen Izak van der Merwe | 7–6$^{(7–4)}$, 6–3 |
| Win | 12–4 | Mar 2010 | France F5, Poitiers | Futures | Hard (i) | Yannick Mertens | Olivier Patience Nicolas Renavand | 3–6, 6–1, [10–6] |
| Loss | 12–5 | Oct 2010 | Mons, Belgium | Challenger | Hard (i) | Yannick Mertens | Filip Polášek Igor Zelenay | 6–3, 4–6, [5–10] |
| Win | 13–5 | Nov 2010 | Aachen, Germany | Challenger | Carpet (i) | Igor Sijsling | Jamie Delgado Jonathan Marray | 6–4, 3–6, [11–9] |
| Win | 14–5 | Aug 2012 | Vancouver, Canada | Challenger | Hard | Maxime Authom | John Peers John-Patrick Smith | 6–4, 6–2 |
| Loss | 14–6 | Jun 2014 | Nottingham, Great Britain | Challenger | Grass | Go Soeda | Rameez Junaid Michael Venus | 6–4, 6–7$^{(1–7)}$, [6–10] |
| Win | 15–6 | Aug 2014 | Aptos, USA | Challenger | Hard | Laurynas Grigelis | Purav Raja Sanam Singh | 6–3, 4–6, [11–9] |
| Loss | 15–7 | Oct 2014 | France F24, Rodez | Futures | Hard (i) | Maxime Authom | James Cluskey David O'Hare | 6–7$^{(5–7)}$, 6–3, [8–10] |
| Win | 16–7 | Nov 2014 | Eckental, Germany | Challenger | Carpet (i) | Niels Desein | Andreas Beck Philipp Petzschner | 6–3, 4–6, [10–8] |
| Win | 17–7 | Oct 2015 | Mons, Belgium | Challenger | Hard (i) | Philipp Petzschner | Rameez Junaid Igor Zelenay | 6–3, 6–1 |
| Win | 18–7 | Nov 2015 | Eckental, Germany | Challenger | Carpet (i) | Philipp Petzschner | Ken Skupski Neal Skupski | 7–5, 6–2 |
| Win | 19–7 | Jul 2016 | Belgium F5, Middelkerke | Futures | Hard | Yannick Mertens | Hunter Johnson Yates Johnson | 6–1, 6–1 |
| Loss | 19–8 | Jul 2016 | Recanati, Italy | Challenger | Hard | Adrián Menéndez Maceiras | Kevin Krawietz Albano Olivetti | 3–6, 6–7$^{(4–7)}$ |
| Loss | 19–9 | Nov 2016 | Knoxville, USA | Challenger | Hard (i) | Joris De Loore | Peter Polansky Adil Shamasdin | 1–6, 3–6 |
| Loss | 19–10 | Nov 2016 | Kyoto, Japan | Challenger | Hard (i) | Joris De Loore | Sanchai Ratiwatana Sonchat Ratiwatana | 6–4, 4–6, [7–10] |
| Loss | 19–11 | Apr 2018 | Le Gosier, Guadeloupe | Challenger | Hard | Jonathan Eysseric | John-Patrick Smith Neal Skupski | 6–7$^{(3–7)}$, 4–6 |
| Win | 20–11 | Apr 2019 | Tunis, Tunisia | Challenger | Clay | Tim Pütz | Facundo Argüello Guillermo Durán | 6–3, 6–1 |
| Loss | 20–12 | May 2019 | Seoul, Korea, Rep. | Challenger | Hard | Sergiy Stakhovsky | Max Purcell Luke Saville | 4–6, 6–7$^{(7–9)}$ |
| Win | 21–12 | Sep 2019 | Glasgow, United Kingdom | Challenger | Hard (i) | Daniel Masur | Jamie Murray John-Patrick Smith | 4–6, 6–3, [10–8] |
| Win | 22–12 | Mar 2020 | Italy M25, Trento | ITF World Tennis Tour | Hard (i) | Daniel Masur | Alexander Erler David Jordà Sanchis | 7–6$^{(9–7)}$, 6–2 |
| Win | 23–12 | Feb 2021 | Quimper, France | Challenger | Hard (i) | Daniel Masur | Brandon Nakashima Hunter Reese | 6–2, 6–1 |
| Win | 24–12 | Sep 2021 | Biel/Bienne, Switzerland | Challenger | Hard (i) | Daniel Masur | Marc-Andrea Hüsler Dominic Stricker | w/o |
| Loss | 24–13 | Nov 2021 | Eckental, Germany | Challenger | Carpet (i) | Daniel Masur | Roman Jebavý Jonny O'Mara | 4–6, 5–7 |
| Win | 25–13 | Jan 2022 | Bendigo, Australia | Challenger | Hard | Daniel Masur | Enzo Couacaud Blaž Rola | 7–6$^{(7–2)}$, 6–4 |
| Win | 26–13 | Feb 2022 | Turin, Italy | Challenger | Hard (i) | Daniel Masur | Sander Arends David Pel | 3–6, 6–3, [10–8] |
| Win | 27–13 | Mar 2022 | Lugano, Switzerland | Challenger | Hard (i) | Daniel Masur | Jérôme Kym Leandro Riedi | 6–4, 6–7$^{(5–7)}$, [10–7] |

## Singles performance timeline

Key :
| W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | DNQ | A | NH |
| Tournament | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | W–L |
| Grand Slam tournaments ||||||||||||||||
| Australian Open | Q1 | Q1 | A | Q1 | 1R | Q3 | 1R | Q3 | Q1 | 2R | Q1 | A | Q1 | Q1 | 1–3 |
| French Open | Q1 | Q2 | Q1 | Q2 | Q2 | Q2 | 1R | Q2 | Q1 | 2R | Q1 | Q3 | Q1 | | 1–2 |
| Wimbledon | Q3 | Q1 | 1R | 2R | Q3 | Q2 | 1R | 1R | 3R | 2R | 1R | NH | Q2 | | 4–7 |
| US Open | Q2 | Q3 | Q2 | Q2 | Q1 | Q2 | 3R | Q1 | 1R | 1R | Q2 | A | Q3 | | 2–3 |
| Win–loss | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 2–4 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 3–4 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 8–15 |

## Best Grand Slam results details

| | Australian Open | Australian Open |
| 2018 Australian Open (qualifier) |||
| Round | Opponent | Score |
| Q1 | Kamil Majchrzak | 7–5, 5–7, 7–5 |
| Q2 | Viktor Galović | 5–7, 6–3, 7–5 |
| Q3 | Lee Duck-hee | 6–4, 6–4 |
| 1R | Lucas Pouille (18) | 6–4, 6–4, 6–7$^{(4–7)}$, 7–6$^{(8–6)}$ |
| 2R | Nikoloz Basilashvili | 5–7, 1–6, 3–6 |
| | French Open | French Open |
| 2018 French Open (Lucky Loser) |||
| Round | Opponent | Score |
| Q1 | Ugo Humbert (WC) | 6–4, 6–7$^{(6–8)}$, 6–3 |
| Q2 | Nino Serdarušić | 6–2, 6–3 |
| Q3 | Thomaz Bellucci | 2–6, 6–2, 5–7 |
| 1R | Yuki Bhambri | 6–4, 6–4, 6–1 |
| 2R | Jürgen Zopp (LL) | 6–4, 6–4, 3–6, 4–6, 4–6 |
| | Wimbledon Championships | Wimbledon Championships |
| 2017 Wimbledon (qualifier) |||
| Round | Opponent | Score |
| Q1 | Tristan Lamasine | 3–6, 6–1, 6–3 |
| Q2 | Mathias Bourgue | 6–4, 3–6, 6–3 |
| Q3 | Gerald Melzer (27) | 6–4, 7–5, 6–3 |
| 1R | Tommy Haas (WC) | 6–2, 3–6, 6–3, 7–5 |
| 2R | Daniil Medvedev | 6–4, 6–2, 3–6, 2–6, 6–3 |
| 3R | Kevin Anderson | 6–7$^{(3–7)}$, 4–6, 6–7$^{(3–7)}$ |
| | US Open | US Open |
| 2015 US Open |||
| Round | Opponent | Score |
| 1R | Gilles Müller | 6–4, 1–6, 6–4, 6–4 |
| 2R | Jack Sock (28) | 4–6, 4–6, 6–3, 2–1 ret. |
| 3R | Stan Wawrinka (5) | 3–6, 6–7$^{(5–7)}$, 4–6 |