After a three-month break from tournament competition, #NextGenATP American Taylor Fritz is picking up where he left off at the $150,000 ATP Challenger Tour event in Ilkley, U.K. The 19 year old took out fifth seed Go Soeda of Japan in the opening round and then survived a scare against Yuki Bhambri of India before advancing in three sets. Fritz will play third seed Evgeny Donskoy of Russia in a rain-delayed quarter-final on Saturday. Fritz had been in top form before opting for a three-month training block during the clay-court season, having scored his first Top 10 win against Marin Cilic at the BNP Paribas Open in March. But despite missing the red clay, he said he’s already reaping the...
Fans of British tennis have been given a new star to get behind after teenager Jay Clarke reached his first ATP Challenger Tour quarter-final at home during the $150,000 event in Ilkley. The 18 year old from Derby hadn’t won a set in his five previous Challenger tournaments - three qualifying and two main draw appearances - but sharply turned the corner this week. Clarke made full use of a wild card to defeat fellow teenager Alex de Minaur of Australia in the first round, then toppled eighth seed Illya Marchenko of Ukraine in the Round of 16 for the biggest win of his career. He’ll play Marton Fucsovics of Hungary in a rain-delayed quarter-final on Saturday. The joy and...
Watch hot shot from the ATP Challenger Tour event in Todi, Italy, as Federico Delbonis strikes a sublime drop volley en route to reaching the quarter-finals.
Oscar Otte entered 2017 having not won a main draw match at an ATP Challenger Tour event, but the German continued his rapid rise up the Emirates ATP Rankings with his first Challenger title last week at the Lisboa Belem Open in Lisbon, Portugal. “It was really difficult to play that final, so I’m happy I could make it through. It was an amazing week for me,” said Otte. “I was a little bit tougher in the head and also physically. I tried to keep the rallies quick because I used a lot of energy in the matches that week, so it was a good tactic. “You never think you can win the title at the start of the week....