A LOOK BACK Kunal Patel San Francisco Open (San Francisco, USA): One year ago, China had its moment in the spotlight, as native son Di Wu claimed the nation's first ATP Challenger Tour title in Maui, USA. On Sunday, the total doubled. Behind a bevy of monster forehands and lightning-fast agility, Ze Zhang notched his maiden crown in San Francisco, overcoming Vasek Pospisil 7-5, 3-6, 6-2. Zhang rang in the inaugural event in San Francisco with a bang, notching seven wins in eight days to lift the trophy as a qualifier, overturning an 0-3 mark in Challenger finals in his career to finally claim victory. The Nanjing native is the first qualifier winner of the year on the ATP Challenger...
A LOOK BACK RBC Tennis Championships Of Dallas (Dallas, Texas): Top seed Ryan Harrison came out on top in an all-American battle against second seed and #NextGenATP star Taylor Fritz, firing a backhand winner on match point to prevail 6-3, 6-3. Harrison didn't drop a set throughout the week and becomes the first No. 1 seed to win the Dallas title in their 20 years on the ATP Challenger Tour. He now has four ATP Challenger Tour titles, but this is his first since January 2015 in Happy Valley, Australia. He’s projected to move up to No. 62 on Monday in the Emirates ATP Rankings and has jumped nearly 100 spots since July. Fritz was looking for his first title...
A LOOK BACK Sportsmaster Tennis Championship of Maui (Maui, Hawaii): Second seed and #NextGenATP star Hyeon Chung continued his recent ATP Challenger Tour dominance by picking up another title, rolling through fourth seed Taro Daniel of Japan 7-6(3), 6-1 in the championship match. The 20-year-old didn’t lose a set throughout the week and dropped an average of less than five games per match. Chung now has eight Challenger titles and the win in Maui is his second on U.S. soil. He has now won at least one Challenger title for four straight years. He returns to the Top 100 of the Emirates ATP Rankings this week, sitting at No. 73. Chung also puts himself into contention to qualify for the...
A LOOK BACK Koblenz Open (Koblenz, Germany): Belgian Ruben Bemelmans started off his season on a high note by prevailing in a tight final over German qualifier Nils Langer, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(0). “I felt great on court from the first match,” said Bemelmans. “I love playing indoors and Koblenz is close to my home, so it gives a good feeling if your family can come and watch.” Bemelmans finished 2016 strongly by finishing runner-up in November at U.S. Challengers in Charlottesville and Champaign. He has already improved his Emirates ATP Ranking by nearly 60 spots since this past November and his win in Koblenz will push him back inside the Top 150. “I ended last year really good and now...
A LOOK BACK East Hotel Canberra Challenger (Canberra, Australia): For the 21st time in his career, Dudi Sela is the last man standing at an ATP Challenger Tour event, rallying past top seed Jan-Lennard Struff in Canberra. The Israeli needed one hour and 49 minutes to dispatch the German 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, maintaining his strong run of form after reaching the semi-finals at the Aircel Chennai Open a week ago. The title puts Sela five behind Yen-Hsun Lu for the all-time Challenger lead, but more importantly sees the 31 year old soar 20 spots to World No. 67 in the Emirates ATP Rankings. Watch: Sela Championship Point Hot Shot | Sela Post-Match Interview Buoyed by the boisterous Israeli contingent in...