NextGen Surge Highlights 2016 Challenger Storylines

The 2016 ATP Challenger Tour season was filled with many intriguing storylines and pulsating moments. With 165 tournaments in 44 countries and territories, there was no shortage of entertaining tennis, as players fought for crucial Emirates ATP Rankings points. ATPWorldTour.com looks back at the season that was… 

NextGen Stars Make Their Mark

Rising players continued to have a major impact on the ATP Challenger Tour, with #NextGen stars racking up 17 titles in total. Teenagers comprised 13 of those 17 victories. Among the #NextGen winners were Andrey Rublev, Daniil Medvedev, Hyeon Chung, Elias Ymer, Yoshihito Nishioka and Kyle Edmund.

Emerging Americans also made their presence felt in the second half of 2016. Frances Tiafoe won his first Challenger title in August in Granby, then repeated the feat two months later at another $100,000 event in Tiburon, en route to making his debut this October inside the Top 100 of the Emirates ATP Rankings. Reilly Opelka (Charlottesville), Michael Mmoh (Knoxville) and Stefan Kozlov (Champaign) joined the trend of first-time teenage titlists, while 20-year-old Ernesto Escobedo picked up his first two Challenger wins in Lexington and Monterrey. Teenager Taylor Fritz opened up his 2016 season with a victory in Happy Valley.

Read Features: Opelka | Mmoh  | Tiafoe | Escobedo

Argentina’s Dominance

Argentina racked up 20 Challenger 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 titles this year: Facundo Bagnis had a tour-leading six Challenger titles, followed by Guido Andreozzi (2), Horacio Zeballos (2), Diego Schwartzman (2), Renzo Olivo (2), Nicolas Kicker (2), Maximo Gonzalez, Carlos Berlocq, Leonardo Mayer, Agustin Velotti. Eight of these Challenger wins have come over the past two months.

Bagnis tied Juan Ignacio Chela (2001) and Younes El Aynaoui (1998) for most Challenger titles won in a single season. He went 45-11 this year at this level, with all of his titles coming on red clay events in South America.

Read Features: Argentina | Bagnis

Milestone Men 

Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo became the first player to win 400 matches at the Challenger level, a feat he accomplished this August in Chengdu. The 38-year-old Spaniard’s first Challenger win came in Manerbio back in 2000. He reached three Challenger finals this year, including back-to-back events in August in Qingdao and Chengdu, becoming the oldest finalist in Challenger history at 38 years, 7 months.

Dudi Sela also recorded his 20^th Challenger title this March in Shenzhen. The Israeli veteran won his first Challenger title in Togliatti in 2003. 

Yen-Hsun Lu continued his Challenger dominance by winning his 26^th career title at this level in October in Suzhou. Lu recorded an outstanding 34-5 record on the ATP Challenger Tour in 2016, winning four titles (Suzhou, Ningbo, Surbiton, Ilkley) and finishing runner-up at two other events (Seoul, Bangkok)

Read Features: Ramirez-Hidalgo | Sela | Lu

Challengers Honoured In London

The ATP Challenger Tour’s finest had their moment in the spotlight during the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. The Monterrey Open (Monterrey, Mexico), Ethias Trophy (Mons, Belgium) and SPARKASSEN Open (Braunschweig, Germany) were honoured at The O2 as 2015 ATP Challenger Tour award winners for exemplifying the very best of tennis at this level.

Read ATP Challenger Tour Awards Feature

Tour Tidbits

• The biggest upset by ranking this year came from teenager and World No. 1,748 Tung-Lin Wu, who shocked World No. 131 Denis Kudla 6-3, 6-4 in the opening round of Kaohsiung in September.

• Former doubles World No. 1 Leander Paes enjoyed Challenger success this year, winning titles in Busan (w/Groth) and Biella (w/Begemann).

• Darian King became the first player from Barbados to win a Challenger title. The 24-year-old lifted three winner’s trophies (Cali, Binghamton, Stockton) in the second half of the season.

• In his first Challenger event, wild card and Ohio State University tennis star Mikael Torpegaard prevailed in September on his home campus courts in Columbus, defeating top seed Benjamin Becker in the final.

• Bradley Klahn returned to action after being sidelined for 21 months due to back surgery, coming through qualifying to reach the quarter-finals of his first tournament back in Champaign.

• The Challenger doubles tie-break record was broken in Tiburon, with Philip Bester/Peter Polansky defeating King/Tiafoe 20-18 in a second-set tie-break during their opening round match. It was the longest tie-break since the ATP began keeping records for such doubles matches in 2007.

• Brian Baker posted a 22-1 record in Challenger doubles this year, winning four titles this year with four different partners. His 22-match win streak was finally snapped with a semi-final loss this November in Knoxville. 

• Sweden welcomed its first Challenger tournament in 20 years this March in Jonkoping, while the Philippines held its first Challenger in 22 years this January in Manila.