One year ago, Kevin King was on the sidelines recovering from hip surgery. On Sunday, he became an ATP Challenger Tour champion. King stormed past Cameron Norrie 6-4, 6-1 to earn his maiden title at the Atlantic Tire Championships in Cary, North Carolina. The 26-year-old entered the week outside the Top 400 in the Emirates ATP Rankings and has soared 181 spots to a career-high No. 253 with the victory. The American had never reached a Challenger final coming into Cary, but he would score impressive wins over top seed Ernesto Escobedo, Noah Rubin and Norrie to clinch the crown. King, a native of Peachtree City, Georgia, starred for Georgia Tech University before turning pro in 2012. He graduated with...
A LOOK BACK Pekao Szczecin Open (Szczecin, Poland): Frenchman Richard Gasquet capped a brief return to the ATP Challenger Tour with a triumph in the Szczecin final, defeating former World No. 18 Florian Mayer 7-6(3), 7-6(4). Gasquet had entered the event to pick up some valuable match play having struggled recently with injuries. It was his first appearance in Szczecin since 2004 and improved his record in Challenger finals to 9-1. This was Gasquet’s first Challenger title since Bordeaux 2010. The Frenchman had saved a match point to beat Guido Andreozzi in the quarter-finals on Friday and did not drop a set thereafter. The World No. 30 is the highest-ranked Challenger winner since then No. 20 Benoit Paire won in...
There are more than one billion people in China, but none are smiling as brightly as Wu Yibing. The 17 year old is redefining the Asian tennis landscape with every victory and on Sunday he notched another significant milestone, scoring his first ATP Challenger Tour title in Shanghai. Just seven days after lifting the US Open junior trophy, Yibing made history on home soil in becoming the youngest Chinese champion on the Challenger circuit. He claimed victory when Yen-Hsun Lu was forced to retire with a right shoulder injury after the first set (won by Yibing in a tie-break). Yibing's run to the title was as momentous as it was dominant. The Hangzhou native did not drop a set all...
Success is coming sooner than Wu Yibang expected. The 17-year-old Chinese prospect only won the US Open junior singles and doubles titles less than two weeks ago in New York. Now he stands one match away from landing his maiden ATP Challenger Tour title on home soil in Shanghai. Top seed, Chinese Taipei’s Yen-Hsun Lu, is his final hurdle. And Wu realises how great a hurdle that is, with Lu’s 29-title haul making him the all-time Challenger leader. Lu holds a 20-3 record in Challenger finals since 2008. “I played him last month in the Chengdu semi-finals, lost to him in the final set,” Wu said. “I know he is better than me, especially from the baseline but in that...