Already one of the marquee events on the ATP Challenger Tour, the Open d’Orleans continues to raise the bar. The hard-court perennially boasts one of the most competitive draws on the ATP Challenger Tour, which this year included seven Top 100 players and two formerly ranked in the Top 20 in the ATP Emirates Rankings: Ernests Gulbis and Jerzy Janowicz. The tournament saw a flurry of competitive three-set matches in the historic French city, culminating in a high-quality final with 2016 finalist Norbert Gombos of Slovakia overcoming crowd-favourite Julien Benneteau in three sets. Gombos not only walks away with a hefty prize cheque from the $150,000 indoor tournament (the only indoor tournament on the ATP Challenger Tour of that level),...
A LOOK BACK Open d'Orleans (Orleans, France): Last year, Norbert Gombos finished runner-up to Pierre-Hugues Herbert in the Orleans final. On Sunday, the fourth seed went one step further, claiming the title at the prestigious $150,000 event with a 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 win over another Frenchman - Julien Benneteau. Gombos will rise to a career-high No. 80 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, having notched his fifth ATP Challenger Tour title and first in nearly one year. [ALSO LIKE] BFD Challenger (Rome, Italy): The 2017 season has become the year of the Serbian on the ATP Challenger Tour. Filip Krajinovic secured a tour-leading 10th title for the European nation with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Daniel Gimeno-Traver in Rome. Krajinovic, who...
With the competition as fierce as ever, the ATP Challenger Tour demands countless hours on the court and in the gym, week in and week out. Any small reprieve is a welcome one for players looking to end their season on a high note. For those competing at the Tiburon Challenger presented by Wells Fargo in California, that reprieve wasn’t so small – in fact, it was quite large... and came in the form of a 98-foot yacht. Several players from the picturesque ATP Challenger Tour event were treated to a luxurious cruise on the San Francisco Bay, courtesy of a generous patron of the tournament’s Tiburon Peninsula Club. With views of the Tiburon and San Francisco shorelines, the Golden...
The ATP World Tour's Asian swing continues with a pair of 500-level events: the China Open and the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships 2017. Six of the Top 10 in the Emirates ATP Rankings are competing this week, with World No. 1 Rafael Nadal leading the way in Beijing and Wimbledon finalist Marin Cilic the top seed in Tokyo. View Draws: Beijing | Tokyo 10 THINGS TO WATCH IN BEIJING (1) Race is On: With 500 points on the line at the China Open, the Emirates ATP Race To London is heating up. World No. 1 and Nitto ATP Finals qualifier Rafael Nadal leads a field full of contenders. Pablo Carreno Busta is near the London cut at No. 8 in the Race, but...
