Orleans: Gueymard Wayenburg beats Bellucci to reach quarter-finals

Mattia Bellucci is out of the Orleans Challenger in the round of 16. On Wednesday the tournament's third seed lost 7-6(2) 3-6 6-2 to Sascha Gueymard Wayenburg, a Frenchman who entered the draw with a wild card and is currently ranked No.193 in the ATP rankings. On the same day sixth seed Benjamin Bonzi also fell, beaten 6-4 6-3 by Germany's Tom Gentzsch.

The other two completed round-of-16 matches went with the seeding and produced the first quarter-final: Daniel Altmaier, seeded second, against Zsombor Piros, seeded seventh. The German came back to beat qualifier Buvaysar Gadamauri 3-6 7-5 6-1, while the Hungarian recovered from a set down against Clement Tabur to win 2-6 7-6(6) 6-3.

Why it matters: Orleans is a Challenger 125 and, at this stage of the season, every round moves the rankings. The title is worth 125 points, the final 75, the semi-finals 45 and the quarter-finals 25. The round of 16 is worth 13, and that is what Bellucci takes away from France. In the site's live rankings the Italian is No.62 with 892 points, which is also his career-high.

For Gueymard Wayenburg, the numbers are all positive. Reaching the quarter-finals has lifted him to 299 points in the live rankings and, if he won the tournament, he would reach 399. He has climbed 130 places since 9 September; his career-high is No.181, reached on 19 October.

The match against Bellucci was decided in the pressure moments. The first set went to a tie-break, which the Frenchman won comfortably 7-2. Bellucci hit back in the second, taking it 6-3, and forced a deciding set. There, however, Gueymard Wayenburg pulled away and closed it out 6-2, playing on home soil.

The 23-year-old Frenchman had already been made to fight in the first round. Against Nicolai Budkov Kjaer he won 6-7(5) 7-5 6-3 in a 34-game match, the longest of the tournament according to the site's statistics. Bellucci, meanwhile, had opened with a 6-1 7-6(5) win over qualifier Cosme Rolland De Ravel.

The defeat does not erase the Italian's autumn, the best of his career in ranking terms. Since 17 August Bellucci has climbed 19 places and he has won 7 of his last 10 matches. The key moment was his title at the Jinan Challenger 125, where he beat Martin Landaluce 6-2 4-6 6-3 in the final after defeating Shintaro Mochizuki in the semi-finals and Alexander Shevchenko in the quarter-finals.

Then came the main-tour events. In Almaty he beat Tomas Martin Etcheverry and lost in the round of 16 to Terence Atmane after three tie-breaks, 6-7(4) 7-6(2) 7-6(5). At the Paris Masters 1000 he won the all-Italian match with Lorenzo Sonego, 6-4 6-3, before losing to Arthur Rinderknech, 6-4 6-1. This season he also reached the final of the Jingshan Challenger 100.

Gueymard Wayenburg arrives after a period of ups and downs, but on a solid base. In 2026 he won the Rennes Challenger 100 and reached the final of the Mouilleron-le-Captif Challenger 75. In recent weeks he had stopped in the quarter-finals in Roanne, beaten 6-3 6-4 by Matteo Martineau, in the first round in Brest against Martin Damm and in the round of 16 at Bratislava 2 against Piros, 6-3 6-7(1) 6-3.

The other upset carries Gentzsch's name. The German, No.152 with 378 points in the live rankings, beat Bonzi in straight sets. The Frenchman was playing at home and arrived from the indoor events on the main tour. In Lyon he had beaten Cameron Norrie before losing in three sets to Tommy Paul, and in Paris he had lost his opener to Taylor Fritz. Bonzi stays at No.89 with 670 points.

Gentzsch, 23, is in his first Challenger 125 quarter-final since Olbia, where he was stopped 6-0 6-3 by Damir Dzumhur. In the first round in Orleans he had come back against Max Houkes, 4-6 6-3 6-4. Reaching the quarter-finals has earned him 25 points this week; his career-high is No.145, reached on 9 September.

The quarter-final already set is Altmaier against Piros, and the site lists no previous meetings between them. The German is the second seed: in the official rankings he is No.73 with 812 points, in the live rankings he has risen to No.66 with 837. His career-high remains No.57, reached on 24 August 2026.

Altmaier's autumn has brought good matches on indoor courts. In Lyon he reached the quarter-finals by beating Titouan Droguet and Borna Gojo, before losing 7-6(5) 6-2 to Fritz. In Basel he won in three sets against Juan Manuel Cerundolo and went down 7-5 6-4 to Jiri Lehecka. In Shanghai he had come back to beat Holger Rune, 1-6 7-6(5) 6-4. His record over his last 10 matches is 5 wins and 5 defeats.

Piros arrives in better rhythm: 7 wins in his last 10. In 2026 the 27-year-old Hungarian won the Iasi Challenger 100 and reached the final in Maia, which he lost 4-6 6-3 6-2 to Francesco Passaro. At Bratislava 2 he beat Gueymard Wayenburg himself before falling in the quarter-finals to Dalibor Svrcina. In the live rankings he is No.96 with 629 points.

The tournament is without its defending champion. In 2025 the title went to Martin Landaluce, who came back to beat Raphael Collignon 6-7(6) 6-2 6-3 in the final; this year the Spaniard is not in the main draw. For him that means the 125 points from the title are dropping off, while Collignon has 75 points from the final expiring.

For Italy, Orleans is over. Before Bellucci, Andrea Pellegrino lost in the first round, beaten 6-0 6-3 by Bonzi, as did Luca Nardi, who came through qualifying and was beaten 7-6(2) 1-6 6-4 by Piros. The first round also saw a retirement: Dusan Lajovic left the court trailing 4-2 against Gadamauri.

What's next: the round of 16 is completed on Thursday. On the schedule are Dalibor Svrcina against Otto Virtanen, Pedro Martinez Portero against Matteo Martineau, top seed Sebastian Baez against qualifier Calvin Hemery and Nishesh Basavareddy against Kyrian Jacquet. Match times, in the reader's time zone, are on the tournament page.

For Gueymard Wayenburg and Gentzsch, a semi-final would be worth another 20 points, taking them to 45 for the week. For Altmaier and Piros, their meeting is worth a place in the last four and, for whoever wins the tournament, 125 points: the German would rise to 937, the Hungarian to 729. The tournament ends on Sunday 15 November.