Jarry Makes Top 100 Debut With Victory On Home Soil

  • Posted: Nov 19, 2017

Jarry Makes Top 100 Debut With Victory On Home Soil

Nov192017

Revisit the week that was on the ATP Challenger Tour as we applaud the achievements of those on the rise and look ahead to who’s in action in the week to come

A LOOK BACK
Movistar Open by Cachantun (Santiago, Chile): Competing in your hometown, with friends and family in attendance, is often one of the biggest thrills for a professional tennis player. It’s no wonder Nicolas Jarry was speechless as he stood on Center Court at the Club de Polo y Equitación San Cristobal, with the trophy firmly wrapped in his arms.

Jarry claimed his third ATP Challenger Tour title of the year and first on home soil, downing Marcelo Arevalo 6-1, 7-5 in Saturday’s final in Santiago. The 22-year-old Chilean did not drop a set all week, becoming the 12th player to lift three or more trophies in 2017. He has found great success on the South American clay, adding to titles won in Medellin, Colombia and Quito, Ecuador.

The victory has added significance for Jarry, who breaks into the Top 100 of the Emirates ATP Rankings for the first time at No. 99. Two years after suffering a broken wrist and falling outside the Top 600, the Chilean is realizing his potential.

KPIT – MSLTA Challenger (Pune, India): The city of Pune is fast becoming the mecca of Indian tennis. The ATP World Tour 250 event is slated to move from Chennai to Pune to open the 2018 season, and the Balewadi Sports Complex also hosted the fourth edition of an ATP Challenger Tour event this week. Home hope Yuki Bhambri brought the partisan Indian crowd to their feet all week, and the 25-year-old would reign as the last man standing on Saturday.

Bhambri rallied past countryman Ramkumar Ramanathan 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, claiming his first Challenger crown in two years – since he last prevailed in Pune in 2015. It was just the second all-Indian final on the ATP Challenger Tour in a decade, with the most recent being the 2015 New Delhi championship (Devvarman d. Bhambri). Bhambri is on the comeback trail after an elbow injury derailed his 2016 campaign. After falling outside the Top 500, he is pushing towards a Top 100 return at a projected No. 122. The signature moment of Bhambri’s season came at the Citi Open in Washington in August, where he reached the quarter-finals as a qualifier. It was his first ATP World Tour QF in three years.

Dunlop Srixon World Challenge (Toyota, Japan): The two-week Japanese swing concluded in Toyota, where Matthew Ebden won his second title in three weeks. Also the champion on home soil in Canberra, Australia, to open the month, Ebden overcame Calvin Hemery 7-6(3), 6-3 in Sunday’s final. Much like Bhambri, Ebden is also in the midst of a successful return to the circuit following injury. The 29-year-old, who reached the final at the ATP World Tour event in Newport in July, is back in the Top 100 for the first time since 2014 after undergoing knee surgery. After opening the season at No. 696 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, he rises to a projected No. 80. It was his eighth Challenger crown in total.

JSM Challenger Of Champaign-Urbana (Champaign, Illinois, USA): When you think of the American with the hottest stretch to close out the season, Rolex Paris Masters champion Jack Sock is the first to come to mind. But while Sock was making noise on the ATP World Tour, Tim Smyczek was dominating in the final weeks on the Challenger circuit. The veteran capped his campaign with a 12-1 run, including titles on home soil in Charlottesville and Champaign. His victory in Champaign on Saturday was his second tournament crown, having defeated Sock in 2012. 

Smyczek ousted Bjorn Fratangelo 6-2, 6-4 in Saturday’s final, having secured the USTA’s Australian Open wild card earlier in the week. The American rises to No. 130 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, soaring a combined 59 spots during the three-week U.S. indoor swing.

Meanwhile, former doubles No. 1 Leander Paes won his 24th Challenger title, teaming up with countryman Purav Raja to go back-to-back in Knoxville and Champaign.

Internazionali Citta di Brescia (Brescia, Italy): It had been 14 months since former World No. 44 Lukas Lacko last featured in the Top 100, but the Slovakian has returned with a strong late-season push. Lacko, who turned 30 earlier this month, claimed Challenger titles in consecutive weeks, prevailing in Bratislava and on Sunday in Brescia, Italy. He routed Laurynas Grigelis 6-1, 6-2 in 46 minutes. It was the shortest completed final of the year on the ATP Challenger Tour. Lacko is projected to rise 11 spots to No. 93.

A LOOK AHEAD
The final week of the season features four tournaments on three continents. The $150,000 event in Hua Hin, Thailand, has Ebden as its top seed and Canada’s Peter Polansky seeded second. In nearby Bangalore, Bhambri looks to sweep the Indian swing, while World No. 102 Blaz Kavcic leads the field.

Andria, Italy, maintains its traditional season-ending tournament on the indoor hard courts of the ASD Pro Tennis Andria. The event has been a staple of the final week of the season since its debut in 2013. Home hope Stefano Travaglia is the top seed. 2014 champion Ricardas Berankis is seeded second.

The eight-week South American swing concludes at the Rio Tennis Classic in Rio de Janeiro. Top seed Rogerio Dutra Silva eyes a title on home soil, while Jarry looks to cap his season with back-to-back victories.

You May Also Like: Spotlight On South America On The ATP Challenger Tour

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