Ruben Bemelmans (; born 14 January 1988) is a Belgian tennis coach and a former professional 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.
Professional Career 2006–2009: Turned Pro 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.
2010–2014: ATP and Grand Slam debut, Hopman Cup finalist 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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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, 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.
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. However he lost in five sets in round two to Estonian Jürgen Zopp.
Bemelmans qualified for the 2018 Wimbledon Championships defeating Bernard Tomic in the final qualifying round. He then defeated American Steve Johnson in five sets to reach round 2 of a slam for the third consecutive time in 2018.
2019–2022: Retirement 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.
In February 2021, Bemelmans won his sixth singles Challenger title at the 2021 Challenger La Manche defeating Lukáš Rosol. In September 2021, 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. He also participated in the doubles event having received also a wildcard partnering compatriot Alexander Blockx where he lost in the first round.
Coaching Career Following his retirement, he coached Zizou Bergs until 2026. He also accompanied Alexander Blockx in April that year, at the 2026 Mutua Madrid Open, although not in a confirmed official coach role.
ATP career finals
Doubles: 1 (1 title) LegendGrand 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 surfaceHard (1–0)Clay (0–0)Grass (0–0)Carpet (0–0)
ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreWin1–0Los Angeles Open, US250 SeriesHard Xavier Malisse Jamie Delgado Ken Skupski7–6(7–5), 4–6, [10–7]
Team competition finals ResultW–LDateTournamentSurfacePartnersOpponentsScoreLoss0–1Hopman Cup, Perth, Western AustraliaHard Justine Henin Bethanie Mattek-Sands John Isner1–2Loss0–2Davis Cup, Ghent, BelgiumClay (i) David Goffin Steve Darcis Kimmer Coppejans Andy Murray Kyle Edmund James Ward Jamie Murray1–3Loss0–3Davis Cup, Lille, FranceHard (i) David Goffin Steve Darcis Joris De Loore Jo-Wilfried Tsonga Lucas Pouille Richard Gasquet Pierre-Hugues Herbert2–3
Challenger and Futures finals
Singles: 37 (20–17) Legend (singles)ATP Challenger Tour (6–13)ITF Futures Tour (14–4)Titles by surfaceHard (12–8)Clay (2–3)Grass (0–1)Carpet (6–5)
ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfaceOpponentScoreLoss0–1Sweden F1, MalmöFuturesHard (i) Pablo Figueroa6–7(8–10), 5–7Loss0–2Romania F5, BacăuFuturesClay Artemon Apostu-Efremov2–6, 0–6Loss0–3Germany F9, RömerbergFuturesClay Dustin Brown3–6, 6–7(4–7)Win1–3Germany F10, EspelkampFuturesClay Franz Stauder6–2, 7–5Win2–3Israel F4, Ramat HaSharonFuturesHard Niels Desein6–3, 6–3Loss2–4Germany F3, KaarstFuturesCarpet (i) Jeroen Masson2–6, 6–4, 2–6Win3–4Switzerland F2, BassersdorfFuturesCarpet (i) Ladislav Chramosta3–6, 6–3, 6–2Win4–4Italy F15, CesenaFuturesClay Carlos Avellán6–4, 3–6, 6–0Loss4–5Aachen, GermanyChallengerCarpet (i) Evgeny Korolev6–7(5–7), 6–7(3–7)Win5–5France F3, BressuireFuturesHard (i) Vincent Millot6–4, 6–3Win6–5Wolfsburg, GermanyChallengerCarpet (i) Stefano Galvani7–6(7–5), 3–6, 6–3Win7–5France F15, PlaisirFuturesHard (i) Pierrick Ysern6–7(5–7), 6–1, 7–5Win8–5France F4, LilleFuturesHard (i) Niels Desein6–4, 6–2Win9–5France F5, PoitiersFuturesHard (i) Charles-Antoine Brézac6–4, 4–6, 6–4Win10–5Spain F23, Palma del RíoFuturesHard Niels Desein4–6, 6–4, 7–6(7–1)Loss10–6Eckental, GermanyChallengerCarpet (i) Igor Sijsling6–3, 2–6, 3–6Win11–6Wolfsburg, GermanyChallengerCarpet (i) Dominik Meffert6–7(8–10), 6–4, 6–4Loss11–7Heilbronn, GermanyChallengerHard (i) Björn Phau7–6(7–4), 3–6, 4–6Loss11–8Athens, GreeceChallengerHard Marinko Matosevic3–6, 4–6Loss11–9Orléans, FranceChallengerHard (i) David Goffin4–6, 6–3, 3–6Loss11–10Nottingham, Great BritainChallengerGrass Steve Johnson5–7, 5–7Loss11–11Eckental, GermanyChallengerCarpet (i) Benjamin Becker6–2, 6–7(3–7), 4–6Win12–11Eckental, GermanyChallengerCarpet (i) Tim Pütz7–6(7–3), 6–3Win13–11Germany F4, NußlochFuturesCarpet (i) Maximilian Marterer6–3, 6–7(2–7), 7–6(7–5)Loss13–12Glasgow, Great BritainChallengerHard (i) Niels Desein6–7(4–7), 6–2, 6–7(4–7)Win14–12Le Gosier, GuadeloupeChallengerHard Édouard Roger-Vasselin7–6(8–6), 6–3Win15–12Belgium F5, MiddelkerkeFuturesHard Yannick Mertens6–3, 6–7(3–7), 6–1Win16–12USA F34, BurlingameFuturesHard (i) Sam Barry6–1, 6–2Loss16–13Charlottesville, USAChallengerHard (i) Reilly Opelka4–6, 6–2, 6–7(5–7)Loss16–14Champaign, USAChallengerHard (i) Henri Laaksonen5–7, 3–6Win17–14Koblenz, GermanyChallengerHard (i) Nils Langer6–4, 3–6, 7–6(7–0)Loss17–15Drummondville, CanadaChallengerHard (i) Denis Shapovalov3–6, 2–6Loss17–16Scheveningen, NetherlandsChallengerClay Guillermo García López1–6, 7–6(7–3), 2–6Loss17–17Eckental, GermanyChallengerCarpet (i) Antoine Hoang5–7, 3–6Win18–17Germany M25, NußlochITF World Tennis TourCarpet (i) Jonáš Forejtek6–7(4–7), 7–6(7–3), 6–2Win19–17Italy M25, TrentoITF World Tennis TourHard (i) Alexander Erler4–6, 6–2, 6–4Win20–17Cherbourg, FranceChallengerHard (i) Lukas Rosol6–4, 6–4
Doubles: 40 (27–13) Legend (doubles)ATP Challenger Tour (13–9)ITF Futures Tour (14–4)Titles by surfaceHard (18–9)Clay (6–2)Grass (0–1)Carpet (3–1)