Ruben Bemelmans (Flemish pronunciation: [ˈrybə(m) ˈbeːməlmɑns]; 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.

Ruben Bemelmans
Bemelmans in 2021
Country (sports) Belgium
ResidenceMaasmechelen, Belgium
Born (1988-01-14) 14 January 1988 (age 36)
Genk, Belgium
Height1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Turned pro2006
RetiredOct 2022
PlaysLeft-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize moneyUS$2,192,636
Singles
Career record30–61
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 84 (28 September 2015)[1]
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open2R (2018)
French Open2R (2018)
Wimbledon3R (2017)
US Open3R (2015)
Doubles
Career record13–16
Career titles1
Highest rankingNo. 128 (1 October 2012)
Grand Slam doubles results
WimbledonQ1 (2012, 2017, 2018)
Team competitions
Davis CupF (2015, 2017)
Hopman CupF (2011)
Last updated on: 22 October 2022.

Career

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2006–2009: Turned Pro

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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.[2]

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

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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.[3]

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.[4]

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.[5]

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

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Ruben Bemelmans at the 2018 French Open

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.[6]

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,[7] 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.[8]

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.[9] However he lost in five sets in round two to Estonian Jürgen Zopp.[10]

Bemelmans qualified for the 2018 Wimbledon Championships defeating Bernard Tomic in the final qualifying round.[11] He then defeated American Steve Johnson in five sets to reach round 2 of a slam for the third consecutive time in 2018.[12]

2019–2022: Retirement

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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.[13]

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.[14] He also participated in the doubles event having received also a wildcard partnering compatriot Alexander Blockx where he lost in the first round.[15]

ATP career finals

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Ruben Bemelmans at the 2011 Wimbledon Championships

Doubles: 1 (1 title)

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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

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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

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Singles: 37 (20–17)

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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)

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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

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Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# DNQ A NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.
To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.
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

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References

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  1. ^ "Ruben Bemelmans/overview". Association of Tennis Professionals.
  2. ^ "Ruben Bemelmans schrijft Challengertoernooi van Wolfsburg op zijn naam" [Ruben Bemelmans wins Wolfsburg challenger]. nieuwsblad.be (in Dutch). Mediahuis n.v. 27 February 2011. Archived from the original on 27 November 2015.
  3. ^ "Ruben Bemelmans meteen out op eerste ATP-toernooi" [First round loss for Bemelmans in first appearance in an ATP tournament]. hbvl.be (in Dutch). Mediahuis n.v. 3 February 2010. Archived from the original on 27 November 2015.
  4. ^ Forde-White, Emily (14 September 2010). "Rochus levels tie down under". Daviscup.com. International Tennis Federation. Archived from the original on 23 October 2012.
  5. ^ "USA Wins Sixth Hyundai Hopman Cuplwork=hopmancup.com". International Tennis Federation. 8 January 2011. Archived from the original on 10 February 2011.
  6. ^ Clary, Brian (5 September 2015). "Wawrinka keeps rolling, takes out Bemelmans in three". US Open.org. United States Tennis Association. Archived from the original on 13 September 2015.
  7. ^ "Challenger Spotlight Bemelmans Koblenz 2017 | ATP Tour | Tennis".
  8. ^ Dewulf, Filip (15 January 2018). "Bemelmans zorgt in Australië voor stunt van formaat tegen Pouille". Het Laatste Nieuws (in Dutch).
  9. ^ "French Open: Yuki Bhambri out in first round after straight-sets loss to lucky loser Bemelmans".
  10. ^ "Lucky loser Zopp battles into third round in Paris".
  11. ^ "Subscribe to the Gold Coast Bulletin".
  12. ^ "Bemelmans zorgt voor verrassing op Wimbledon: 30-jarige Limburger schakelt Amerikaan Johnson na felbevochten vijfsetter". Het Laatste Nieuws (in Dutch). 2 July 2018.
  13. ^ "Belgian Ruben Bemelmans Makes Wimbledon Qualifying History | ATP Tour | Tennis".
  14. ^ "Two-time Davis Cup finalist Ruben Bemelmans retires from tennis". 21 June 2022. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
  15. ^ "Ruben Bemelmans Ends Singles Career in Antwerp". 17 October 2022.
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