atp tour challenger 2022

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Atp challenger tour: 2022 by the numbers.

• December 5, 2022

Damian Kust

A record 184 ATP Challenger Tour events were held in 2022. The circuit keeps growing with plenty of positive changes incoming next year. Before we had to the short Challenger off-season, here’s a bunch of stats and facts about what happened in 2022. Feel free to check out the previous editions of this piece about the years 2021 , 2020 , and 2019 .

Tournaments by surface

• 101 – Clay (including one indoor event in Maia)
• 43 – Outdoor hard
• 36 – Indoor hard
• 3 – Grass
• 1 – Carpet

The dominance of clay on the Challenger circuit started in 2021 when it accounted for 58% events. This year, it went down to 54%. Compared to 2021, there was one more event on grass with the pre-Wimbledon swing in the United Kingdom making a full comeback. Ismaning is now the only carpet Challenger left on the schedule as the tournament in Eckental was discontinued.

Number of events per country

• 28 – Italy
• 21 – United States
• 18 – France

No surprises here as the top three remains the same as in 2021, although the United States managed to regain the second spot. Italy’s efforts to organize as many Challenger events as possible are definitely paying off when you look at how many NextGen players they currently have on the tour.

Titles won per country (singles)

• 23 – Argentina
• 22 – France
• 16 – Italy
• 12 – United States

The record previously stood at 20, held by Argentina (2007, 2016, 2021), and France (2005). Both countries eclipsed it this year with Argentinian players going 23-29 in finals, while the French were more efficient at 22-17. The incredible rise of the Italian youngsters allowed the country to double its title tally compared to last year.

Most titles won (singles)

• 4 – Pedro Cachin, Jack Draper
• 3 – Daniel Altmaier, Quentin Halys, Constant Lestienne, Luca Nardi, Ben Shelton, Yibing Wu

Last year, Tallon Griekspoor became the new record-holder in this category at 8 , with Benjamin Bonzi and Sebastian Baez tying the previous best of 6 (previously held by Younes El Aynaoui, Juan Ignacio Chela, and Facundo Bagnis). This season proved how tough it will be to even tie Griekspoor’s achievement, especially as since the ATP Rankings returned to normal after the pandemic, there’s pretty much no way you win eight Challengers in the same year and still play on the ATP’s secondary circuit.

Most titles won (doubles)

• 10 – Julian Cash, Henry Patten
• 9 – Guillermo Duran
• 7 – Guido Andreozzi, Albano Olivetti
• 6 – Nicolas Barrientos, Saketh Myneni, Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela, Cristian Rodriguez

Julian Cash and Henry Patten broke the record for the highest number of titles as a pair in a single season, previously held by Sanchai and Sonchat Ratiwatana (won 8 in 2012). Guido Andreozzi was the only player who won at least four doubles titles this year and added a trophy in singles as well (a very unexpected one, which will be mentioned later in the article).

Most match wins (singles)

• 43 – Quentin Halys
• 40 – Tomas Martin Etcheverry, Constant Lestienne
• 38 – Pedro Cachin, Emilio Gomez, Matteo Arnaldi

Tomas Martin Etcheverry came second in this stat in 2021 as well (49 to Benjamin Bonzi’s 50). Quentin Halys and Constant Lestienne had 30+ wins in a season before, but Pedro Cachin more than doubles his previous record of 17. Matteo Arnaldi had only played 12 main draw Challenger matches before this year.

Best win percentage (minimum 20 matches played)

• 86% – Jack Draper (24-4)
• 85% – Yibing Wu (23-4)
• 81% –  Ben Shelton (35-8), Quentin Halys (43-10)

Not many surprises there. Ben Shelton made his way into the top 3 by ending the year on a 15-match win streak , while Quentin Halys was pretty much a beast all-year round and despite playing over 50 matches, still ended up with over 80%. Jack Draper and Yibing Wu played much more sporadically but were next to unstoppable with some of their losses also involving physical problems.

ATP Top 50 Singles Ranking Participation

• 35 – Daniel Evans – Nottingham – Champion
• 40 – Albert Ramos-Vinolas – Genoa – Quarterfinal (lost to Andrea Pellegrino)
• 50 – Pedro Martinez – Braunschweig – R2 (lost to Zhizhen Zhang)
• 50 – Dominic Thiem – Marbella – R1 (lost to Pedro Cachin)

Players this high-ranked are generally unable to compete in Challenger Tour events, unless granted a wildcard pre-approved by the ATP. Last year, top 50 competitors entered five events and the best result was only a quarterfinal (Dan Evans in Nottingham).

Finals Between Top Seeds (singles)

• (2) Gianluca Mager over (1) Roberto Carballes Baena in Gran Canaria
• (2) Mats Moraing over (1) Quentin Halys in Turin
• (2) Quentin Halys over (1) Ricardas Berankis in Lille
• (1) Tallon Griekspoor over (2) Roberto Carballes Baena in Amersfoort
• (1) Jordan Thompson over (2) Emilio Gomez in Columbus
• (2) Juan Pablo Varillas over (1) Facundo Bagnis in Sao Leopoldo

Top seeds went 4-0 in finals like that last year, but the second produced a solid effort to take it 4-2 in 2022. Carballes Baena was on the losing end twice, although once as each seed. Quentin Halys lost as top seed, but won as second seed.

Qualifier Champions

• Antoine Bellier – San Luis Potosi
• Evan Furness – Ostrava
• Filip Misolic – Zagreb
• Sergey Fomin – Shymkent (2)
• Lukas Klein – Troisdorf
• Zizou Bergs – Ilkley
• Hamad Medjedovic – Luedenscheid
• Raul Brancaccio – San Benedetto del Tronto
• Valentin Vacherot – Nonthaburi (1)
• Arthur Cazaux – Nonthaburi (2)
• Kimmer Coppejans – Toulouse
• Stuart Parker – Nonthaburi (3)
• Nicolas Moreno de Alboran – Braga
• Jan Choinski – Campinas
• Li Tu – Seoul
• Mattia Bellucci – St. Tropez
• Tennys Sandgren – Las Vegas
• Otto Virtanen – Bergamo
• Seong-Chan Hong – Matsuyama
• Leandro Riedi – Helsinki
• Guido Andreozzi – Temuco

2021 had 6% of Challenger Tour champions start from the qualifying draw,  this percentage has doubled this year (22/183 finished events).  The wildest moment was definitely the three-week Nonthaburi Challenger 50 series, where all three events were won by qualifiers.

Wildcard Champions (singles)

• Matteo Arnaldi – Francavilla al Mare
• Lorenzo Musetti – Forli
• Dan Evans – Nottingham
• Borna Coric – Parma
• Francesco Maestrelli – Verona
• Gabriel Diallo – Granby

The first two would have gotten in on their ranking, but didn’t sign up. Dan Evans couldn’t compete without a wildcard as a top 50 player. The latter three actually needed it to enter the events. There were a few alternate champions as well, while Yibing Wu won Orlando on a protected ranking and Indianapolis on a special exempt.

Longest super tie-breaker – 19/17

Boris Arias and Federico Zeballos beat Constantin Bittoun Kouzmine and Brandon Walkin 6-4 4-6 19-17 in the quarterfinals at Pozoblanco. Interestingly, this was Bittoun Kouzmine’s only Challenger appearance of the year. The Bolivians saved four match points, eventually securing the key mini-break at 17-17 after a series of 19 straight points won on serve.

Double bagels (main draw only)

• Camilo Ugo Carabelli over Gonzalo Achondo – Concepcion (1)
• Matias Franco Descotte over Felipe Hernandez – Concepcion (1)
• Bjorn Fratangelo over Mohammed Safwat – Savannah
• Marco Cecchinato over Nicholas David Ionel – Luedenscheid
• Gerald Melzer over Mateo Gomez – Cali
• Kimmer Coppejans over Arthur Reymond – Troyes
• Michael Mmoh over Alexander Bernard – Knoxville

5/7 came in Challengers played in the Americas, which tend to have high-quality seeds, but often lack depth. Marco Cecchinato over Nicholas David Ionel is probably the most surprising one here, especially as the Romanian had a pretty solid year with a semifinal in Sibiu. Mohammed Safwat won a Challenger at the beginning of 2020, but the double bagel really shows you how much he’s declined since (currently world #665). Kimmer Coppejans over Arthur Reymond is the only one that happened in R2 (rest R1).

One unfinished event – Charleston

Due to the expected impact of Hurricane Ian on South Carolina, the remainder of the #ATPChallenger event in Charleston has been canceled. All players will receive ranking points and prize money for rounds reached. pic.twitter.com/TCaj96WoUa — ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) September 28, 2022

#1 and #2 competing in a Challenger – Mate Pavic and Nikola Mektic in Phoenix

The Arizona Tennis Classic is held during the second week of the Indian Wells Masters, which allows some players that usually don’t feature on the Challenger Tour to compete. This was taken to the extreme in 2022 as Mate Pavic and Nikola Mektic, at the time world #1 and world #2 in the ATP Doubles Rankings, decided to seek form in Phoenix. They only managed a semifinal, losing to Oscar Otte and Jan-Lennard Struff.

Oldest singles champion this year – Fernando Verdasco

At 38 years and 3 months of age, Fernando Verdasco became the second oldest ATP Challenger Tour champion in Monterrey (Ivo Karlovic was sixteen months older when he won Calgary three years ago). No other player older than 32 won a title in singles in 2022.

Lowest-ranked singles champion since 2006 – Guido Andreozzi

Focusing more on doubles this year after some serious injuries, Guido Andreozzi was playing just his fifth singles event of 2022 in Temuco. Despite starting from the qualifying draw, he produced a brilliant run to take the title , winning his first Challenger since 2018. He was ranked 901 at the time, becoming the lowest-ranked champion since his compatriot Guillermo Canas, who was returning to the sport after over a year in Belem 2006 and did not have any points left.

Three titles in three weeks – Ben Shelton

Last year, this feat was managed by Benjamin Bonzi and Tallon Griekspoor. Ben Shelton’s achievement was more monumental though. It allowed him to win the USTA Australian Open Wildcard Challenge, break the top 100, and most importantly – he is the youngest player to ever win three Challenger events in three consecutive weeks.

Won an ATP Tour and an ATP Challenger Tour title in the same year

• Francisco Cerundolo (Bastad ATP 250/Santa Cruz Challenger)
• Borna Coric (Cincinnati ATP 1000/Parma Challenger)
• Marc-Andrea Huesler (Sofia ATP 250/Mexico City Challenger and Aguascalientes Challenger)
• Lorenzo Musetti (Hamburg ATP 500/Forli Challenger)
• Yoshihito Nishioka (Seoul ATP 250/Columbus Challenger)
• Holger Rune (Munich ATP 250, Stockholm ATP 250, and Paris ATP 1000/Sanremo Challenger)

Borna Coric used the Challenger Tour in his comeback, eventually securing the biggest title of his career just two months after triumphing in Parma. Marc-Andrea Huesler had a full-on breakthrough year and it all started with his brilliant performances on altitude clay in Mexico. Holger Rune won the only Challenger he competed in this year , Francisco Cerundolo and Lorenzo Musetti played in two.

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Home ❯ News ❯ THIS IS THE ATP CHALLENGER TOUR: A LITTLE GUIDE FOR BEGINNERS

THIS IS THE ATP CHALLENGER TOUR: A LITTLE GUIDE FOR BEGINNERS

The ATP Challenger Tour is a series of ATP tennis tournaments that constitute the second level of professional tennis.

From August 27 to September 1, the Rafa Nadal Open by Movistar returns, the most important tournament held annually at the academy and which is part of the ATP Challenger Tour category.

Players build their careers and enhance their legends in the big matches, in the relentless battles that remain in the memory of all spectators. Finals of major tournaments and relentless fights to occupy the highest positions in the rankings. All this magnifies and mythologizes the value of our sport, but sometimes, the paths that lead them to glory are less known. The process is a fundamental part of the final triumph and as part of that process, of that path, in tennis we find the Challenger Tour.

The ATP Challenger Tour is a series of ATP tennis tournaments that constitute the second level of professional tennis, behind the ATP Tour and ahead of the third level, the ITF World Tennis Tour. It is the prelude to the elite of world tennis. All players who aspire to reach the highest-ranked and most renowned ATP tournaments must play this circuit that allows them to win matches and grow in the world ranking until they have access to the professional ATP tournaments. Did Roger Federer have to play the Challenger Tour? Correct, even Roger Federer had to play on this circuit.

The circuit is divided into tournaments in four categories based on the points awarded and the prizes they distribute: Challenger 50, Challenger 75, Challenger 100 and Challenger 125. For the last two seasons, the Challenger 175 have also been incorporated, which are the three tournaments on the circuit that are played in the second week of the longer Masters 1000 (Indian Wells, Madrid and Rome). The number associated with the category indicates the points awarded in the ATP ranking for each of these tournaments. The more points the tournament usually awards, the better the ranking required to access them.

The circuit is growing and growing every year, providing tennis players with better and more comprehensive services. In 2022, 195 tournaments of this category were held around the world and the prize money exceeded 20 million euros. A historic figure.

This week many of the tennis players of the future will be playing in Manacor. Did you know that you could be enjoying the Rafa Nadal Academy by Movistar courts of a future Roland Garros winner? Always remember that the Challenger circuit was a fundamental part of his path.

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• 2022 ATP Challenger Tour

The 2022 ATP Challenger Tour is a secondary professional tennis tour for men, organised by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). The tour consists of several categories including Challenger 125, Challenger 110, Challenger 100, Challenger 90, Challenger 80 and Challenger 50. Prize money ranged from $37,520 to $159,360.

On 1 March 2022, the ATP, WTA, ITF and the four grand slam tournaments announced as a result of the Russian war in Ukraine, Belarus and Russia would not be allowed to play in tournaments under the names or flags of their countries. The tennis players are able to compete in tournaments but not under the Russian or Belarusian flags.

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Challenger Tour Weekly Recap: Fearnley with 3 Titles in 4 Appearances in 2024

Jacob Fearnley won a crazy final in Rennes to pick up his third Challenger Tour title of the season; Learner Tien’s win rate is similarly incredible after his success in Las Vegas. Meanwhile, Vit Kopriva went one step further in Szczecin than in 2023, and Dobrich featured in the 10th all-Dutch final in ATP Challenger Tour history. Read up on last week’s action:

Challenger Tour Weekly Recap

Andrea Pellegrino has these 2-3 weeks every year when he’s almost unbeatable and in 2024 he had to wait all the way until September to find that peak mode again. Second round against Gianluca Mager ended up going to a deciding set tie-break, but after that the Italian really fired up to beat fourth seed Daniel Altmaier and go on an incredible run of 7 games won in a row against Gerard Campana Lee to make his first final since October 2023.

Vit Kopriva was the runner-up in Szczecin last year , enjoying a great September with over 200 points earned. This time, things weren’t going so smoothly with the Tulln title defense falling apart in the opening round (to eventual champion Jan Choinski), but he managed to defend his points in Poland with some crazy wins. He beat Alexey Vatutin from 2-4 15-40 down in the 3rd set before eliminating Federico Coria in a 2023 final rematch 5-7 7-5 7-6, saving 5 match points from 2-5 in the decider.

The last two days in Szczecin were very windy, and that usually doesn’t suit Kopriva’s game, with his flatter strokes requiring precise timing. But his determination to keep going was very visible as he attacked Pellegrino from the get-go. Both players were struggling in the wind, but he was the one making all the plays. Kopriva claimed his 4th Challenger title 7-5 6-2 and defended plenty of the points he gained last September. Both players were supposed to head to Bad Waltersdorf next, but the runner-up opted to withdraw.

Jacob Fearnley lost in the opening round of US Open qualifying to Paul Jubb with an injured wrist. It wasn’t clear if he was going to be right back in his best form in Rennes and the 37-minute win over Benoit Paire certainly didn’t make it any clearer. But after dropping the opening set 1-6 against Sascha Gueymard Wayenburg, he went on to find his game there and then didn’t even give a chance to Adrian Mannarino and Harold Mayot.

Quentin Halys found some great form around Wimbledon when he qualified to make the third round before reaching the final at the ATP 250 in Gstaad. Expectations were high at the start of the indoor swing, and the Frenchman managed to deliver despite dropping his opening set of the week to Martin Damm. He was never close to getting broken there, though, and won the next five tie-breaks he played in Rennes to make his first final at the Challenger level since June 2023 in Blois .

Halys dominated the opening set 6-0, rushing Fearnely endlessly with the Brit struggling to get his serving rhythm going. It eventually became a battle, though, and he missed 2 match points at 6-5 40-15 on return in the second set, before finally being the first player to break Halys all week. The twists and turns weren’t done yet as Fearnley needed 7 match points to claim his 3rd Challenger title 0-6 7-6 6-3, having to save three break points after the initial six chances to end this affair. He jumps to No. 129 in the ATP Rankings despite missing half the season due to college. He decided to withdraw from Saint-Tropez next week and will be back in Orleans, just like Halys.

Christopher O’Connell was struggling with a shoulder injury over the summer and didn’t get his form back until the US Open where he defeated Nicolas Jarry and Mattia Bellucci to make the third round, losing to eventual champion Jannik Sinner. The Asian swing has been a good hunting ground for him in the last few years with titles at 2022 Yokohama and 2023 Shanghai . The top seed only dropped one set on the way to another final (against Radu Albot).

Sho Shimabukuro won the title in Shanghai the week before Guangzhou and wasn’t dealt an easy draw with Maxime Cressy in the opening round. Against Yan Bai he was almost completely out of energy before saving 5 match points to come back from 3-6 3-5 down (the Chinese retired at the start of the decider). One day of rest before the quarterfinals allowed Shimabukuro to recover as he went on to beat Terence Atmane and Luca Nardi, getting his win streak up to 9.

Shimabukuro came out with a very aggressive mindset and completely overwhelmed O’Connell in the opening set. The Australian’s job was to start holding and stay patient to wait for his opponent to drop that level. He eventually did with a weaker game at 5-6 in the 2nd set, but the decider was similarly difficult, and it took until 5-all in the tie-break for Shimabukuro to make one small error. O’Connell claimed his 6th Challenger title 1-6 7-5 7-6 with both finalists heading to the ATP 250 event in Chengdu next.

Tristan Boyer ‘s form has picked up in the last few weeks, and even in the US Open doubles, he made the third round alongside Emilio Nava. In Las Vegas, he had to pull off three wins from a set down to make the final. Andres Martin even had a match point against him at 6-5 40-30 in the 3rd set, but Boyer went after his +1 forehand, and the opponent didn’t make the pass. Similarly tough was his semifinal against Karue Sell, with the American keeping his aggressive attitude when it mattered.

Learner Tien lost in the opening round of the US Open to Arthur Fils, but it didn’t derail him from his incredible form over the whole season. By the time he made the Las Vegas final, his win/loss record went up to 43-7. He dropped the opening set of the week to Alex Rybakov, but came back strong and was relatively untroubled until the semifinals against Abdullah Shelbayh. In a fun matchup of the two creative young lefties, Tien prevailed 6-4 in the deciding set.

Boyer came out hitting well with his all-out attack style again, getting himself to a 5-3 lead. Even with such aggression from the get-go, you could say he got impatient, though, and you have to redline to beat Tien like this due to his speed, counter-punching skills, and ability to keep the ball in uncomfortable spots. For about a set and a half, the underdog was right with him again, though, but he grew very frustrated when he couldn’t keep the error count in check in another crucial moment. Tien claimed his 2nd Challenger Tour title 7-5 1-6 6-3 and jumped to No. 151 in the ATP Rankings. He’ll take a week off now before returning in Charleston, Boyer is playing in Columbus.

Guy Den Ouden had a college stint at Pepperdine but ended that relatively quickly to hit the professional tour. Since 2021 he has already picked up 11 ITF Tour titles with 5 of them coming in the 2023 campaign. This year has been all about seeking a Challenger breakthrough and Dobrich turned out to be the week. The Dutchman didn’t drop a set on the way to the final, only needing one tie-break against Frederico Ferreira Silva.

After a disastrous 2023 campaign that saw him pick up just four wins by late October, Jelle Sels has been in the rebuilding phase this season. It’s gone pretty well with four ITF finals (1-3 record), but it took until Dobrich for the Dutchman to grab his first Challenger quarterfinal this year. Sels was in a sticky situation against Francesco Maestrelli in the opening round, improving later in the week to beat home crowd favorite Dimitar Kuzmanov in the quarterfinals to make his first Challenger final in 23 months .

It was the 10th all-Dutch Challenger final in history and the 1st since Tallon Griekspoor beat Botic van de Zandschulp in Amersfoort in 2021. Both players were coming off two matches on Friday (quarterfinal + semifinal), but neither had a particularly physical task that day. Den Ouden had defeated Sels comfortably in June and you could see why in their Dobrich final. He was simply very dominant in all the patterns against his opponent’s one-hander, especially when he got to his inside-out FH. Den Ouden claimed his 1st Challenger title 6-2 6-3 and will debut in the Top 300. Both finalists are headed to Sibiu this week.

Events held this week:

• Bad Waltersdorf Trophy (Challenger 125, clay)
• Saint-Tropez Open (Challenger 125, hard)
• Columbus Challenger (Challenger 75, indoor hard)
• Directv Open Cali (Challenger 75, clay)
• BCR Sibiu Open (Challenger 50, clay)

Top 100 players in action:

• Jaume Munar, Thiago Monteiro, Federico Coria, Thiago Seyboth Wild (Bad Waltersdorf)
• Thiago Agustin Tirante (Cali)

First-round matches to watch:

Bad Waltersdorf

• Jerome Kym vs (ALT) Filip Misolic
• Vilius Gaubas vs (2) Thiago Monteiro

Saint-Tropez

• Kamil Majchrzak vs (ALT) Borna Gojo
• Alexander Blockx vs Maks Kasnikowski
• Eliot Spizzirri vs (6) Abdullah Shelbayh
• Ethan Quinn vs (3) Patrick Kypson
• Juan Bautista Torres vs Juan Carlos Prado Angelo
• (7) Enzo Couacaud vs Daniel Dutra da Silva
• (1) Stefano Travaglia vs Filip Jeff Planinsek
• Franco Agamenone vs (2) Timofey Skatov

This article first appeared on Last Word On Sports and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads:

• Riqui Puig lights up the Galaxy's statement-making El Trafico win
• Watch: Cardinals WR Marvin Harrison Jr. torches Rams defense for 60-yard TD
• The 'Second QB selected in the NFL draft' quiz

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