Belgium’s Ruben Bemelmans has announced his retirement from professional tennis as he is now looking forward to a much more relaxed life and spending more time with his family. “The time has come for me to end a big chapter in my life.
It’s time for me to retire from playing tennis. I have been playing since I was 3 years old and now, almost 30 years later, it’s time for the next generation to take over. My time on the field may be over but I’m more then happy to guide new talent as I have been doing with Zizou Bergs these last few weeks and with Michael Geerts last month.
I will always treasure all the memories and amazing achievements and I would like to thank everyone who helped me to make this possible. I’m looking forward on everything that will come next and I’m very excited to spend more time with my family,” Bemelmans announced on Instagram.
Bemelmans was a top-100 player
Bemelmans, 34, turned pro in 2006 and he enjoyed a solid career even though he never managed to win a title or even reach an ATP final in singles.
In 2015, Bemelmans reached a singles career-high ranking of No. 84 in the world. In doubles, Bemelmans lifted one ATP title after he and Xavier Malisse defeated Jamie Delgado and Ken Skupski in the 2012 Los Angeles Open final.
Bemelmans was twice close to winning a Davis Cup ttile with Belgium as he was a member of the Belgian teams that reached the finals in 2015 and 2017. In 2015, Belgium was beaten by the Andy Murray-led Great Britain in Ghent.
Two years later, Belgium returned to the Davis Cup final but this time lost to France in Lille. This season, Bemelmans mostly played on the Challenger Tour. Bemelmans’ last appearance came at the Ilkley Challenger last week, where he failed to make it past the qualifying event.
