Benjamin Bonzi (French pronunciation:[bɛ̃ʒamɛ̃bɔ̃zi]; born 9 June 1996) is a French professional tennis player. Bonzi has a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 42 achieved on 6 February 2023. He also has a career high doubles ranking of world No. 121 achieved on 19 September 2022.[1]
Bonzi qualified for the 2020 French Open, beating Ivo Karlović amongst others in qualifying.[3] In the first round, Bonzi defeated Finland's Emil Ruusuvuori, before losing in a second round clash against teenage Italian Jannik Sinner.[4]
In doubles as a wildcard he reached the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time in his career partnering Antoine Hoang where they were defeated by 8th seeded German duo and eventual champions from Germany, Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies.
2021: Historic six Challengers record, First Wimbledon win, Top 60
Bonzi started the year winning his first and second Challengers in Potchefstroom and Ostrava. In July, Bonzi qualified for the Wimbledon and reached the second round for the first time, after defeating fellow qualifier Marco Trungelliti in the first round. He then lost to 32nd seed Marin Čilić in the second round.
He made his top 100 debut after winning the Segovia Challenger over Tim van Rijthoven, jumping 16 spots at a new career high of No. 95 in the world on 2 August 2021.[5][6] He was the top seed in qualifying at the 2021 US Open, but lost to American Aleksandar Kovacevic in the second round.[7] That same month, he won his fourth Challenger title in Saint-Tropez. He then won two more back-to-back Challengers in France in Cassis and Rennes, his fifth and sixth of 2021, making it three titles on home soil in three weeks with just three combined sets lost. He was the first player to go back-to-back-to-back on the circuit since Mikhail Youzhny in 2016. He joined Facundo Bagnis (2016), Juan Ignacio Chela (2001) and Younes El Aynaoui (1998) as the only players to lift six singles trophies in one season in ATP Challenger history.[8] As a result, he reached a new career-high of World No. 61 on 20 September 2021. He subsequently reached the top 60 on 1 November 2021.
2022: First ATP semifinal & Masters 1000 third round, top 45
At the 2022 Mallorca Championships he reached the quarterfinals by defeating World No. 15 and third seed Denis Shapovalov in the second round.[12] He reached his second career semifinal on the ATP Tour without dropping a set in his three previous matches, defeating Daniel Altmaier in the quarterfinals.[13] As a result, he reached the top 50 at world No. 47 in the ATP singles rankings on 27 June 2022. He reached the second round at the 2022 Wimbledon Championships for a second consecutive year and reached the top 45 in the rankings.
At the 2023 Australian Open he reached the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time in his career, defeating 14th seed Pablo Carreño Busta in five sets, coming from 2-0 sets down,[15] before losing to 22nd seed Alex de Minaur in straight sets. At the same tournament he reached the quarterfinals in doubles with partner Arthur Rinderknech also for the first time at a Major, where they lost to eventual runners-up Hugo Nys and Jan Zieliński.
In February, at the 2023 Open 13 Provence he reached the semifinals again for a second year in a row at this tournament defeating two seeds, fifth seed Maxime Cressy and third seed Alex de Minaur, getting his revenge for the Australian Open loss in January.[16] He reached his second final of the season and of his career defeating compatriot Arthur Fils.[17] He lost to top seed Hubert Hurkacz in the final in straight sets.[18]
He skipped the Masters American "Sunshine double" and clay tournaments with the exception of 2023 Monte-Carlo Masters. He also skipped the 2023 French Open. As a result, he dropped out of the top 100 after losing in the first round at Wimbledon.
Bonzi received a wildcard for the US Open main draw where he defeated fellow countryman Quentin Halys to reach the second round for the second consecutive year.[19] He then managed to defeat 28th seed Christopher Eubanks to reach the second Major third round of his career.[20][21]
In September, Bonzi reached the final of the 2023 Open de Rennes, his first Challenger final in more than a year,[22] losing to Maxime Cressy in the final.[23] He returned to the top 100 as a result to world No. 93 on 18 September 2023.
2024: 100 positions ranking drop
He dropped out of the top 150 to world No. 172 on 26 February 2024, more than 100 positions from his best career-high ranking a year earlier.
Ranked No. 182, he entered the main draw at the 2024 Țiriac Open as a lucky loser after the late withdrawal of wildcard Richard Gasquet.