Griekspoor comes from a set down again to beat Struff for Brussels title

Tallon Griekspoor spent much of his week in Brussels coming from behind, and he did it once more when the title was on the line. The Dutchman lost the first set of Sunday's final at the BNP Paribas Fortis European Open but came back to beat Jan-Lennard Struff 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in two hours and two minutes.

The 30-year-old, ranked No. 60, has now won four ATP Tour titles. It's his first trophy of 2026 and his first since Mallorca in June 2025. It was also the third match in a row in which he lost the opening set and still won.

Three comebacks against three big names

Griekspoor did it the hard way. In the quarter-finals he beat second seed Jiří Lehečka, and in the semi-finals he beat third seed Francisco Cerúndolo. Earlier in the week he had won a tight match on Belgian Day.

The final was a battle of big serves. Griekspoor hit 19 aces to Struff's 17 and won 84 percent of his first-serve points (47 of 56). According to Tennis TourTalk, he also hit 37 winners and saved six of the seven break points he faced. He converted only two of his five break chances, but that was enough.

"Another big fight. Very, very challenging match again," Griekspoor said. "I just tried to stay in there... found some good tennis towards the end of the match." He added: "Winning a tournament so close to home is very special. I'm happy I was able to produce my best tennis when it mattered the most."

Struff's run falls just short

Struff, 36, had a strong week of his own. He beat sixth seed Zizou Bergs and top seed Arthur Fils on the way to the final and was trying to become the second-oldest ATP champion this year, after Novak Djokovic in Beijing. Instead, Griekspoor stays unbeaten against the German and now leads their head-to-head 4-0.

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Straight into the Zverev section in Vienna

Griekspoor goes straight to the ATP 500 in Vienna, and it's a tough draw. He plays Montreal finalist Brandon Nakashima in the first round. The winner will meet top seed Alexander Zverev or Spanish wildcard Martín Landaluce in the second round. That match could be crucial for the rankings, because Zverev needs to reach the quarter-finals to be guaranteed the World No. 1 spot on 2 November.

Fils's loss to Struff did not stop him reaching a milestone. In Monday's ATP rankings, the Frenchman climbed two places to a career-high No. 8 with 3,425 points, according to Eurosport.

After winning three tight matches in a row in Brussels, Griekspoor heads to Austria in good form. Against Nakashima, he will try to make it four comebacks in a row if he needs to.