Olympic Esports Series 2023: Anass "Anteo" Benghazi wins Tennis Clash event

France's Anass "Anteo" Benghazi is the inaugural Tennis Clash winner of the Olympic Esports Series after a thrilling final against He "Kafe" Shenghao.

Anteo, the runner-up in the 2022 Roland-Garros eSeries, and Kafe, who was runner-up in that same tournament earlier this year, were drawn in the same group, and Kafe had won the group-stage meeting between the two.

But when it was time for the best-of-five final, Anteo prevailed.

The Frenchman took the opening match before Kafe, who is from the same club in-game, levelled at 1–1. But Anteo would go on to win the next two matches after what appeared to be a tactical mistake by Kafe.

Heading into the fourth match, Kafe decided to change his lineup and use a different character and boosts. However, that did not pay off, and Anteo converted on his first match point to win the title.

"I wasn't expecting to win; I was happy to get one of the top three places," Anteo said. "I couldn't have wished for a better tournament… The games are so close; the first one to make one or two mistakes becomes vulnerable."

Pre-tournament favourite William "Fozzy" Foster of Great Britain, a two-time Roland-Garros eSeries winner who beat Anteo and Kafe respectively in those finals, suffered a shock defeat to Anteo in the semi-finals.

However, he rebounded from the disappointment to secure the bronze trophy, beating Lyu "Fly" Shengquan 2–0 in the best-of-three third-place match. After taking the first match against Fly, Fozzy had to save five match points in the second before securing the win against Fly, whose in-game character had run out of stamina.