Challenger Chat: Why Oscar Otte Is Dominating The Restart

Oscar Otte, the World No. 136 from Cologne, Germany, describes the key to his dominant restart on the ATP Challenger Tour. In a challenging 2020 season, the Aix-en-Provence champ is keeping things simple and making fitness a priority.

“If you’re good at losing, I think you can get even better at winning.”

Oscar Otte is living by this mantra since the ATP Challenger Tour restarted last month. Hungry and motivated following the five-month COVID-19 break, Otte has shined in the return of the Challenger circuit. The German is playing the best tennis of his career in recent weeks and he took it to the next level in Aix-en-Provence, France.

Otte is 12-3 in the tour’s restart, including a title in Aix-en-Provence and final run in Ostrava. The victory in Aix was a long time coming for the 27-year-old, who was three years removed from his lone previous title in Lisbon in 2017. Moreover, Otte now owns the second-most match wins since the the ATP Challenger Tour returned to action on 17 August.

Sitting at No. 136 in the FedEx ATP Rankings, the Top 100 is well within reach in 2020. One year removed from his first Grand Slam match win at Roland Garros, before falling to Roger Federer, Otte is targeting another successful qualifying campaign at the clay-court major. The Cologne native is also looking forward to the debut of a new ATP Tour event in his hometown, with the bett1HULKS Indoors premiering in mid-October.

“It’s amazing. I’ve always said that it would be one of my dreams to play a bigger tournament in my hometown, where everbody could watch,” said Otte about the ATP 250 in Cologne. “With my friends and family there, it would be amazing. I’m really looking forward to it. Hopefully I get a wild card, but maybe I’ll get into the qualifying with my new ranking. That would be really great for me. It would be special to be able to play and perform there.”