Top Challenger Performers Soar Up Rankings In 2016

The first half of the ATP Challenger Tour season has seen several players achieve breakthrough tournament wins and reach career highs in the Emirates ATP Rankings.

Nine players produced career-high Emirates ATP Rankings after winning ATP Challenger Tour titles this season, with five of them breaking through to the Top 100. All of them have won at least one ATP Challenger Tour title this year and many have finished as runner-up in several other events.

Take a look at their best results of the season:

Gerald Melzer, 25, kicked off the year by winning three $50,000 Challengers in seven weeks. He first prevailed in January in Mendoza, Argentina, and Bucaramanga, Colombia, then won in February in Morelos, Mexico. Melzer also finished as runner-up at two other ATP Challenger Tour events.

Daniel Evans, 26, prevailed at the $50,000 event in March in Drummondville, Canada, then won again two months later at the $75,000 event in Taipei, Taiwan. He’s also finished as runner-up at two $100,000 tournaments this year.

Jordan Thompson, 22, won his first ATP Challenger Tour title in February at the $50,000 event in Cherbourg, France. He then prevailed in May at the $100,000 tournament in Anning, China.

Gastao Elias, 25, has excelled in Italian Challengers. He won the $50,000 event in April in Turin, then followed that up a month later by winning another $50,000 tournament in Mestre.

#NextGen star Karen Khachanov, 20, won his second ATP Challenger Tour title this May at the $50,000 event in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. He also finished as runner-up at the $50,000 tournament in Jonkoping, Sweden.

Thiago Monteiro, 22, won his first ATP Challenger Tour title in May at the $100,000 event in Aix-en-Provence, France, then finished as runner-up a month later at the $75,000 event in Blois, France. He also caused the upset of the year by defeating then-Top 10 player Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at the ATP World Tour 500 event in Sao Paulo.

Konstantin Kravchuk, 31, won his first ATP Challenger Tour title in seven years at the $100,000 event in Busan, Korea. He’s also finished as runner-up at two other Challenger events in the past two months.

Rogerio Dutra Silva, 32, won the $100,000 event in May in Bordeaux, France, and also had a runner-up finish in March at the $50,000 event in Santiago, Chile.

Adam Pavlasek, 21, prevailed at home this month by winning the $50,000 event in Prague, Czech Republic. He’s also finished as runner-up at three other $50,000 ATP Challenger Tour events this year.