A LOOK BACK Wind Energy Holding Bangkok Open (Bangkok, Thailand): Fifth seed Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia showed off the form that’s taken him as high as No. 8 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, moving past Blaz Kavcic of Slovenia in the Bangkok championship match, 6-3, 7-6(1). It was his 12th Challenger title in total and first since August at the $125,000 event in Qingdao, China. Tipsarevic, who continues his ascent towards the Top 100 of the Emirates ATP Rankings, rises to No. 118. Kavcic, meanwhile, continued his run of form in Bangkok, having won the Challenger title there in September. City Of Onkaparinga Tennis Challenger (Happy Valley, Australia): Peter Gojowczyk started 2017 on a high note with a convincing win...
A LOOK BACK Columbus Challenger (Columbus, Ohio): Fourth seed and #NextGen star Stefan Kozlov picked up his first Challenger title by defeating sixth seed and fellow American Tennys Sandgren, 6-1, 2-6, 6-2. The 18-year-old’s victory marks the third time in the past four weeks that an American teenager has won their maiden Challenger title, with Reilly Opelka prevailing in Charlottesville and Michael Mmoh winning in Knoxville. This is the 13th time a teenager has won a Challenger this year and Kozlov is now the 17th #NextGen winner overall. Kozlov rises 30 spots to a career-high Emirates ATP Ranking of No. 116. American Teen Finalists In 2016 Player Age Tournament Result Taylor Fritz 18 yrs, 2 mos Happy Valley (AUS) Won...
A LOOK BACK Uruguay Open (Montevideo, Uruguay): Second seed Diego Schwartzman of Argentina cruised to the title with a convincing 6-4, 6-1 win over sixth seed Rogerio Dutra Silva of Brazil. He is now on a 10-match win streak in Challengers, having prevailed also defeated Dutra Silva in September’s championship match in Barranquila, Colombia. Argentina has won 20 titles in 2016, tying France in 2005 and their own personal best in 2007 for most Challenger events won by any country. Ten different Argentine players won title this year. Dutra Silva has had an outstanding finish to the season in South American Challengers. He’s posted a 26-9 record since September, including runner-up finishes in Montevideo and Barranquilla, Colombia, as well as...
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,...
A LOOK BACK Apis Canberra International (Canberra, Australia): Fifth seed and local favourite James Duckworth captured his second ATP Challenger Tour title of the year in an all-Aussie final over ninth seed Marc Polmans, 7-5, 6-3. Duckworth lasted lift up a winner’s trophy in May in Bangkok. The 19-year-old Polmans was making his first appearance in a Challenger final. He is projected to move inside the Top 220 of the Emirates ATP Rankings on Monday. Polmans has already jumped well over 600 spots in the Emirates ATP Rankings since the start of the season. Charlottesville Men’s Pro Challenger (Charlottesville, Virginia): American teenager Reilly Opelka captured his first pro title in a marathon final over Ruben Bemelmans of Belgium, 6-4, 2-6,...