Frenchman Alexandre Müller wins the first tournament of his career

At 27, Frenchman Alexandre Müller won the first title of his career on the main circuit on Sunday by dominating Japanese Kei Nishikori 2-6, 6-1, 6-3 in the final of the ATP 250 tournament in Hong Kong.

The 67^e world had previously played only one final, in Marrakech in 2023, where he lost against the Spaniard Roberto Caballes.

The Frenchman, very emotional after his victory, showed himself to be particularly resilient this week since he lost the first set in each of his five matches played in Hong Kong.

“It was an incredible week for me, losing the first set every time but I ended up winning,” he explained. “I tried to stay calm between points in each match so as not to waste energy.”

In a field stripped by the early elimination of the first four seeds before the semi-finals, Müller himself came out on 20^e world, his compatriot Arthur Fils, in the quarter-final.

On Sunday, he suffered from the start against the former world No. 4, falling to 106^e rank, which benefited from an invitation from the organizers.

Nishikori broke at 2-2 in the first set, with a magnificent backhand down the line after a twelve-shot exchange.
His very aggressive backhand returns allowed the Japanese to take the Frenchman’s service again at 4-2.

The 35-year-old veteran took the first set after just 36 minutes of play.

2025 to confirm

In the second round, the Frenchman, more dynamic in his strikes, broke free.

At 2-1 then 4-1 in his favor, Müller easily managed to break his opponent, who already seemed to be planning on the last set.

Nishikori had a break point at 5-1 but the Frenchman held on and converted his first set point.

In the third set, Müller got two break points at 1-1 but Nishikori, still impressive on the backhand, avoided the danger.

He did not succeed at 3-3, when the Frenchman, whom he was no longer able to threaten with his commitments, took his chance on the return.

The native of Poissy, west of Paris, then won the game on his first match point, obtained on Nishikori’s serve.

Müller, who has been on the Challengers circuit for a long time, has the opportunity in 2025 to take on another dimension by confirming his recent progress.

The Frenchman, who has held the best ranking of his career since the beginning of December, will improve it further on Monday, around 56^e place.

For his part, the Nippon, four-time quarter-finalist in Melbourne, will approach the next Australian Open, which begins in a week, reassured about the rediscovered quality of his game but with questions about his ability to keep up the pace in matches potentially played in five sets.