British No 3 Leo Farrant wins first ATP title in Antwerp after saving three match points

Leo Farrant won the first ATP title of his career in Antwerp on Sunday, saving three match points in a second-set tie-break before beating the home favourite and top seed 4-6, 7-6 (9), 6-3 in a final that lasted two hours and 48 minutes.

The 24-year-old from Bromley, who began the week ranked 68th, will rise to 46th on Monday, the first time he has been inside the top 50, and becomes the fourth British man to win a tour-level title this decade. He had never previously been beyond a quarter-final.

The match turned at 6-5 in the second-set tie-break, when Farrant, facing a third match point, served out wide, came in behind it and volleyed a backhand into the open court. He won the next two points from the baseline and then broke in the opening game of the decider, after which the home crowd, which had been loud and partisan for two sets, went strangely quiet.

“I do not remember the volley,” Farrant said. “I remember thinking I was not going to lose it standing on the baseline, and then the ball was in the court. Everything after that was a bit easier, which sounds mad, but once you have saved three match points you stop thinking about losing.”

Farrant, whose coach, the former British No 1 Darren Whitlock, took him on in 2024 after he had spent three years on the Challenger circuit and had considered quitting, has played 28 tournaments this year, more than anyone else in the top 100. “He has not had the luxury of picking and choosing,” Whitlock said. “He needed points, so he played. That is not sustainable, but it is how you get here. Now we can start being clever.”

The win earns Farrant £118,000 and a place in the main draw at the Paris indoor event later this month, where he will face a seeded player in the first round. It also gives him a realistic chance of a seeding at the Australian Open in January, which would require him to reach the top 32.

Britain’s Davis Cup captain, who was watching in the stands, said Farrant had “put himself in the conversation” for the qualifying tie in February. Farrant said he would “take a day off, maybe two”, and then fly to Paris. His father, who had driven to Antwerp from Kent on Friday, was seen after the match carrying the trophy to the car park.