Van de Zandschulp channels new coach bounce to upset Fonseca in Brussels

  • Posted: Oct 14, 2025

Botic van de Zandschulp spoiled Joao Fonseca’s first outing as a seeded player on the ATP Tour with a 7-5, 7-6(2) win on Tuesday at the BNP Paribas Fortis European Open.

The Dutchman rallied from a break deficit in each set and outhit Fonseca by 32 winners to 22 en route to snapping his five-match tour-level losing streak. Van de Zandschulp also won 88 per cent (42/48) of first-serve points, according to Infosys ATP Stats, during his two-hour, two-minute victory.

“I played a really good match, I served unbelievably well, also returning in certain moments,” said Van de Zandschulp. “The key for me to win this match was, [in] a lot of the important points, to keep my focus.”

Van de Zandschulp had not won a tour-level match since reaching the Winston-Salem final in August. The World No. 86, who is competing with a new coach in his box this week, will next face American qualifier Eliot Spizzirri, who earlier eased past Pedro Martinez 6-4, 6-1.

“We started this week. We had some practice weeks, but this is the first tournament together,” Van de Zandschulp said of his coach. “Enjoying a lot… It’s been different this year, but this week I’m enjoying it a lot, so it’s good.”

In other action on Day 2 in Brussels, Belgian qualifier Gilles Arnaud Bailly claimed his maiden ATP Tour win with a thrilling 6-4, 6-7(10), 6-3 upset of Daniel Altmaier. With his victory, the 20-year-old surged five spots to 10th in the PIF ATP Live Race To Jeddah and could rise up to eighth if he defeats third seed and last year’s finalist Jiri Lehecka in the second round.

Wild card Raphael Collignon captured his first win on home soil by edging countryman and eighth seed Zizou Bergs 6-4, 7-6(5) in a vibrant all-Belgian clash. The 23-year-old is up seven spots to No. 83 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings, two places shy of his career-high No. 81.

Watch Collignon upset countryman Bergs: 

Collignon, who reached the third round at this year’s US Open, will next take on Francisco Comesana after the Argentine moved past home hope and 2016 semi-finalist David Goffin 7-6(5), 6-4.

The French duo of Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard and Valentin Royer also advanced to the second round on Tuesday. Mpetshi Perricard outlasted Emil Ruusuvuori 7-6(4), 6-7(5), 6-4 and improved to 3-0 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series, while lucky loser Royer downed Sebastian Baez 6-2, 6-3.

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