Generali Open: Cazaux knocks out Rinderknech and reaches his first ATP final
Arthur Cazaux won against Arthur Rinderknech 7-5, 6-3 on Friday. He’ll play the winner of the match between Kazakh Alexander Bublik, the top seed, and Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp in the final
Arthur Cazaux, Kitzbühel 2025 – © Gepa / Psnewz
Arthur Cazaux’s beautiful summer continues. A semifinalist in Gstaad last week, the Frenchman reached a new milestone by advancing to the final of the Kitzbühel tournament this Friday. To get there, he defeated the No. 6 seed Arthur Rinderknech (7-5, 6-3) on the Austrian clay.
It’s the first time in his career that the 22-year-old has reached this stage of an ATP Tour event. His impressive week in Austria will allow him to make a significant leap in the ATP rankings. He is virtually ranked 75th in the world, a jump of 25 spots.
This Friday, Arthur Cazaux handled the rainy conditions better. The match was interrupted for a long period while he was leading 4-3, followed by another short delay at 4-4 in the first set.
I hope to keep this momentum going tomorrow
The two players were evenly matched until 6-5, when Arthur Rinderknech faltered on his serve. Cazaux hit a down-the-line forehand winner to earn the first break point of the match, then followed up with another forehand acceleration at 30-40 to take the opening set.
The world No. 100 carried his momentum into the second set, breaking his opponent early to race to a 3-0 lead — an advantage he maintained without facing a single break point on his own serve.
“I’m very happy, tennis is such a tough sport and I’m in a final for the first time in my career — I couldn’t be happier,” said the winner. “I think that was the longest first set of my career! It wasn’t easy with the rain, but I managed to stay focused. I hope to keep this momentum going tomorrow.”
Cazaux, ranked No 100, will play the winner of the match between Kazakh Alexander Bublik, the top seed, and Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp next.
Ahead of his victory, Arthur Cazaux won against German qualifier Jan-Lennard Struff (6-3, 6-4), Argentinian Francisco Comesana, the No 7 seed (6-4, 7-6 (7)) and Peruvian Ignacio Buse (6-3, 3-6, 7-5).
Rinderknech, ranked No 65, defeated German qualifier Yannick Hanfmann (6-4, 3-6, 6-1), Slovak qualifier Norbert Gombos (6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-4) and Argentinian qualifier Facundo Bagnis (7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-3) in the previous rounds of the Kitzbuhel tournament.
Kitzbuhel ATP 250, other semi-final result (Kitzbühel Tennis Club, clay, EUR 596.035):
- Alexander Bublik vs. Botic van de Zandschulp
