ITF Class of 2025: Gilles Arnaud Bailly
The ITF’s ‘Class of…’ series recognises players who have had a successful year on the ITF World Tennis Tour. It identifies the most promising breakthrough talents and those predicted to go on to bigger things.
This year’s group was decided by a panel of experts. Ashley Keber (WTA), Julia Boyadjieva (ATP), Mark Woodforde (ITF), Mary Pierce (ITF) and Nao Kawatei (ITF) voted on a shortlist of 19 players.
Next up is Gilles Arnaud Bailly of Belgium, who collected five ITF World Tennis Tour titles and climbed 600 spots in the ATP rankings.
It has been a season full of positives for Belgium's Gilles Arnaud Bailly.
The 20-year-old, a former Junior Roland Garros and US Open finalist, as well as a European Junior Championships winner, has taken a considerable step up on the men's tour this year.
Bailly's brilliant 2025 has seen him claim five ITF World Tennis Tour titles, win 60 matches at ITF level (the second highest tally across both men and women) and rise 600 spots in the ATP rankings - reaching a career-high of No. 201 at the start of November.
"It really helped me to play a lot of ITF tournaments this year," said Bailly. "At the beginning of the year I played some M15s and I got good results there."
Bailly kicked off the season with back-to-back finals at M15 Monastir, winning the second at the start of February for his first title since 2023 - dropping just one set throughout the week in a dominant run.
He continued his strong form in the first half of the year by collecting another title at M15 Oegstgeest in May, a week after finishing runner-up in the M15 Antalya final.
"When the clay season started I played two more M25s and it gave me a lot of confidence winning so many matches," he said. "I could grab a lot of points and climb up the rankings."
The clay season proved to be a positive catalyst for Bailly. He won his first M25 title of the season at Uriage - again dropping just one set all week.
He went on to reach another final on the World Tennis Tour at M25 Koksijde before having one of the standout weeks of his career at the Porto 75 Challenger, where he reached the final.
Heading into September high on confidence and in great rhythm, Bailly picked up his fourth title of the season at M25 Meerbusch - which he then followed up with another significant moment some weeks later.
The Belgian qualified for the main draw on home soil at ATP Brussels 250 and recorded his first ever ATP Tour-level match-win against Daniel Altmaier in the opening round.
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On the various competition he has faced on the World Tennis Tour, Bailly said: "Playing all these matches helped a lot because you play against all these different players with different game styles, so you learn a lot from that and it helped me a lot."
The opportunity to experience such a range of playstyles has undoubtedly benefited Bailly at the higher levels - shown by his run to the Porto final and the excellent win over Altmaier.
Finishing the season in consistent fashion, Bailly won his fifth title of the year at M25 Sintra in October, as well as reaching the final at the same event in the following week - ending his fantastic year with a 60-19 win-loss record on the World Tennis Tour.
One of the core reasons for his rise, believes his coach, Dries Beerden, is his focus and determination to compete.
"The best qualities of Gilles Arnaud are his mentality," said Beerden. "He competes really well every time. He always gives 100% in practice and during matches. His mental strength is really good.
"He is a great mover on court – he moves really well, he reads the game well. He’s a real competitor."
Bailly's focus on daily physical and technical improvements have paid dividends in 2025.
"This year he made a good evolution from being a junior player to a pro, he got bigger arms so his forehand and serve improved a lot," acknowledged Beerden.
"That means he had a few more free points during his matches which is very important in modern men’s tennis."
These improvements are undeniably evident in Bailly's season - going from a titleless run in 2024 to winning five this year and rocketing up the rankings.
Bailly is yet to feature at a Grand Slam, either in the main draw or in qualifying, but his meteoric rise this season suggests that is soon destined to change.
Still only 20, he currently sits at No. 207 in the ATP rankings heading into the 2026 season. At his current trajectory, it won't be long before he is competing at the biggest events the sport has to offer.