A LOOK BACK
Hyogo Noah Challenger (Kobe, Japan): Fifth seed and #NextGen star Hyeon Chung continued his successful comeback from injury by defeating seventh seed James Duckworth of Australia in the championship match, 6-4, 7-6(4). This is Chung’s second Challenger title of the year after prevailing in September in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Since returning in September after four months out with an abdominal injury, he has posted a 20-3 record on the ATP Challenger Tour.
Duckworth was riding a nine-match win streak after capturing his second Challenger title of 2016 just one week earlier in Canberra, Australia.
Knoxville Challenger (Knoxville, Tennessee): American teenager Michael Mmoh broke through on home soil with his first Challenger title by defeating Peter Polansky, 7-5, 2-6, 6-1. The 18-year-old had recorded just one main draw win at the Challenger level in the first eight months of the season, but has since gone 14-5. Mmoh will move just outside of the Top 200 of the Emirates ATP Rankings on Monday. He is the fourth American teenager to win a Challenger this year, joining Taylor Fritz (Happy Valley), Frances Tiafoe (Granby, Stockton) and Reilly Opelka (Charlottesville).
Milo Open (Bogota, Colombia): In an all-Argentine battle, top seed Facundo Bagnis took his sixth Challenger title of 2016 by prevailing in a marathon battle over second seed Horacio Zeballos, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(4). Bagnis has tied Juan Ignacio Chela (2001) and Younes El Aynaoui (1998) for most Challenger titles won in a single season. He’s now 45-11 this year at this level.
The win also gives Argentina its 19th Challenger title, just one shy of the record for most in the season by a country.
Internationaux Tennis de Vendee (Mouilleron Le Captif, France): In a battle of experience against youth, Frenchman Julien Benneteau delighted the local crowd with a win over #NextGen star Andrey Rublev of Russia, 7-5, 2-6, 6-3. The 34-year-old captured his fourth career Challenger title, all of which have come in France. His last victory was in Bordeaux in 2014. The 19-year-old Rublev was seeking his second title of the year, having won his maiden Challenger title in February at another French tournament in Quimper.
Peugeot Slovak Open (Bratislava, Slovakia): Norbert Gombos of Hungary continued his outstanding finish to 2016 by prevailing in the final over Marius Copil of Romania, 7-6(8), 4-6, 6-3. The 26-year-old has gone 16-3 in his past five Challenger events, prevailing in Brest and finishing runner-up in another French tournament in Orleans.
Internazionali Tennis Val Gardena (Ortisei, Italy): In an all-Italian final, Stefano Napolitano won his first Challenger title over third seed Alessandro Gianessi, 6-4, 6-1. The win also ensured that the 21-year-old Napolitano will make his debut inside the Top 200 of the Emirates ATP Rankings. He’s jumped more than 200 spots in the rankings since April. Copil has also been in top form lately, having prevailed last month in Budapest, Hungary.
WHAT THE PLAYERS SAID
Chung: “I am really happy to have won my second singles title of 2016 here in Kobe. It was a really tough final against James and a very strong tournament overall with lots of good players. I am looking forward to playing in Toyota next and hopefully finish 2016 back inside the Top 100.”
Bagnis: “I’m very happy. It’s impossible to have a better end to the year. Last week, I was in Guayaquil and feeling very tired from the season. But I think that with an extra effort, I started to feel better during the week. I still can’t believe I won the tournament.”
A LOOK AHEAD
There are four Challengers on the calendar this week, with the long-standing $50,000 event in Champaign, Illinois, taking top billing. This tournament celebrates its 21st consecutive year and features past champions including Kevin Anderson and Ivo Karlovic. #NextGen star and local favourite Jared Donaldson is the top seed and defending champion Henri Laaksonen of Switzerland is the second seed. Several other American #NextGen stars are in the draw including third seed Stefan Kozlov, seventh seed Noah Rubin and eighth seed Stefan Kozlov. 2013 champion and local favourite Tennys Sandgren is also playing this week.
The $50,000 event in Montevideo, Uruguay, returns for the 12th straight year and features illustrious past champions including Juan Martin del Potro and Guillermo Canas. Former Top 10 player Nicolas Almagro of Spain is the top seed and World No. 58 Diego Schwartzman of Argentina is the second seed. 2012 champion Horacio Zeballos of Argentina takes the third seed, Inigo Cervantes of Spain holds the fourth seed and 2011 champion Carlos Berlocq of Argentina is the fifth seed.
The popular $50,000 tournament in Toyota, Japan, returns for the ninth straight year. Local favourite and #NextGen star Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan is the top seed and fellow Japanese player Yuichi Sugita is the second seed. Chung and Duckworth look for another big week in Japan as the fourth and fifth seeds, respectively, while #NextGen star Duckhee Lee of Korea is the sixth seed.
Lastly, the $50,000 Challenger in Brescia, Italy, returns for the third consecutive year. Lukas Lacko of Slovakia is the top seed and Lukas Rosol of the Czech Republic is the second seed. Other notable names are in the draw are former Top 5 player Tommy Robredo of Spain and World No. 1 junior Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece.