The 2018 ATP Challenger Tour season is underway, with a trio of tournaments - in Bangkok, Noumea and Playford - kicking off the new year. Many players are looking to carry the momentum from strong 2017 campaigns, while others are eyeing a fresh start as the calendar turns. Last year, 14 players broke into the Top 100 and will look to translate their Challenger success to the ATP World Tour. A total of 33 others tasted victory for the first time and are hoping to continue to plot their ascents up the ATP Rankings. New opportunities await the stars of tomorrow, as the sun rises on 2018. Who will shine in the new year? We look at the players poised...
An injury scare interrupted Nick Kyrgios' 2018 debut, but the Aussie didn't take the easy way out on Wednesday at the Brisbane International presented by Suncorp. The third seed recovered from a set down and overcame pain in his left knee to oust his veteran countryman Matt Ebden 6-7(3), 7-6(5), 6-2 in his first match of the 2018 ATP World Tour season. “I was a bit rusty in my first match of the year. I played a great doubles match yesterday with my great mate Matt Reid and that gave me that bit of confidence,” Kyrgios said. “I was just happy to get through today.” It took Kyrgios about a set and a half to find his world-class level. The...
The wins – some of the biggest of Andrey Rublev's career – arrived in a flurry. At the US Open, the Russian beat then-No. 9 Grigor Dimitrov and David Goffin, who'd finish at No. 7 in the year-end ATP Rankings, en route to becoming the youngest US Open quarter-finalist since Andy Roddick in 2001. A month later, at the China Open in Beijing, Rublev fought back from a set down to beat both year-end No. 8 Jack Sock and Top 10 stalwart Tomas Berdych. Four big wins you could easily call “career-building” for the #NextGenATP Russian. But the 20-year-old doesn't view them in such a linear, stepping-stone way. To Rublev, the matches were simply good wins on good days, no...
Watch highlights as Lleyton Hewitt, playing in his first professional match in a year and a half, falls just short alongside Jordan Thompson against Grigor Dimitrov and Ryan Harrison in Brisbane. Video courtesy Tennis Australia. Visit www.BrisbaneTennis.com.au for more video. Playback not available in Australia. Photo: Peter Staples/ATP World Tour
Watch highlights as Denis Istomin battles back to upset Damir Dzumhur at the Brisbane International presented by Suncorp. Video courtesy Tennis Australia. Visit www.BrisbaneTennis.com.au for more video. Playback not available in Australia. Photo: Peter Staples/ATP World Tour.