Lakshya Sen beats Christie to win Hylo Open in Saarbrucken
Lakshya Sen beat Indonesia’s Jonatan Christie 21-17, 21-10 to win the Hylo Open in Saarbrucken on Sunday, ending a title drought.
The victory was his first title of 2026, his second at the Hylo Open and his first tournament win since the Australian Open last November.
The 21-17, 21-10 scoreline hid a tighter contest: Lakshya led 18-10 in the opening game before Christie produced seven consecutive points. He said doubt never entered, explaining in a virtual interaction facilitated by the BAI: "I had to be very patient against Christie and wait for the right chances. He also has a very good attack, so I had to not give him easy chances to finish the rally." Lakshya took to the net, slowed the tempo and refused to hand over easy finishes. Their head-to-head is now level at 4-4, but he said he does not focus on past numbers before a match: "You play them so often that all the time matches are 50-50. You don’t really go there to see ki chalo kya hoga (okay, it’s done). You go there to fight and give your best and play the right game."
He reached Saarbrucken after a first-round exit at the Denmark Open and a withdrawal from the French Open due to pain in the shoulder. "I was still a bit rusty in the shot selection," he admitted, arriving in Germany without much rhythm. Those incidents preceded the Hylo Open.
It has been a less-than-ideal season fitness-wise, with niggles that did not rule him out of events but did disrupt his flow. Those issues coincided with underwhelming campaigns at the World Championships and the Asian Games in Japan. Despite that, Lakshya maintains his confidence.
By the semifinal in Saarbrucken against France’s Toma Junior Popov, the touch was back. He credits volume: five matches in a week sharpened him for the business end.
As India’s leading men’s singles player he acknowledged the burden before saying, "There is a lot of pressure. I just want to play freely and give my best every time I play for my country." On the wider men’s singles field he said of the top 15 to 30: "Anyone can beat anyone on a given day," and he added that titles, not rankings, are his priority.
With 2027 bringing the 15x3 format, Lakshya has already tweaked his way of training, with good starts crucial in shorter, more intense games. First, though, a few days at home with family over Diwali. Then Japan and Hong Kong, two stops that keep his World Tour Finals bid alive.