It’s common practice on the ATP Challenger Tour. With more than 150 tournaments in 40 countries and territories, players are criss-crossing the globe nearly every week, chasing valuable ATP Rankings points and prize money.

This week, Yuichi Sugita took that to the next level. On Sunday, the Japanese veteran claimed his 10th ATP Challenger Tour title, lifting the trophy in Binghamton, New York. He hailed it as one of the greatest achievements of his career, having endured two years of struggles following his breakout 2017 campaign.

But Sugita had no time to celebrate. In just over 48 hours, he would find himself on the other side of the world, taking the court for a first-round match in Chengdu, China. From a final in upstate New York on Sunday afternoon to being first on Court 17 at 10:00am on Wednesday in central China, it was quite the journey for the 30-year-old.

“Even though I have jetlag, I think this tournament is really important for me,” Sugita told ATPChallengerTour.com. “That is why I’m here. The temperature is different from New York and the humidity too. I got here on Tuesday and started the next day, so it was not easy. But I won my first two matches.”

Photo: Jacob Stuckey

Sugita is hoping to return to the form that saw him reach a career-high No. 36 in the ATP Rankings in 2017. Earlier that year, he claimed his maiden ATP Tour title in Antalya. But the Japanese admits that it was a struggle to maintain that form as he competed full-time at the tour-level.

“I had a lot of lost confidence. When I played on the ATP Tour, I had to play a lot of top players in the first rounds. Every match is really strong and it’s difficult to find confidence. I had to play all ATP Tour tournaments and I think I lost 10 first round matches in a row. It’s difficult to keep playing well, but it is the tour you dream of playing on. It was a really good experience for me.”

In 2018, Sugita would endure a 10-match losing streak and eventually fell outside the Top 200. As fast as he enjoyed his biggest breakthrough, he would plummet to No. 274 and was forced to return to the ATP Challenger Tour.

He says his victory at the Levene Gouldin & Thompson Tennis Challenger was a great boost, not only in lifting a trophy once again and returning to the Top 200, but in restoring much-needed confidence.

“It’s a long, long time since I last got a title. It’s a big one for me. I was in the Top 40 in 2017 and then I dropped in the ATP Rankings. And I lost how I want to play my tennis. It was really tough to come back to my level, but I won last week and now I have more confidence with my tennis. It was a big, big title for me. It was bigger than my ATP title. These two years, it was really tough, but finally I got it back.”

Now, Sugita is on the rise once again and he credits his resurgence to a renewed mindset and firmer commitment to improving his physical and mental approach. And later this month, he will reap the rewards with a berth in US Open qualifying. What a difference one week can make.

“I needed to practise even harder. I worked on my footwork and the physical and mental side. Physically I tried to get more fit and mentally I just needed the confidence to get back there. I manage myself and my game and find what is my strong points and just believe in myself.”

On Friday, Sugita will face one of his biggest tests of the year in top seed James Duckworth. A spot in the semis at the 2019 International Challenger Chengdu is on the line.

Some days you play your best tennis, and other days you need to try to find ways to win without your top level. #NextGenATP Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime battled hard on Thursday, but ultimately fell short of a solution against sixth seed Marin Cilic at the Citi Open.

“I don’t know what it was, but I couldn’t figure it out,” Auger-Aliassime said. “It was just really tough out there today, in every way. I just felt like I couldn’t even play close to what I’m able to.”

The double fault proved the 18-year-old’s bugaboo against the Croat veteran — Auger-Aliassime’s double fault on match point was his 11th of the match. But instead of dwelling on his performance, the Canadian wants to use this moment to his advantage moving forward.

“I’m going to go back to training, and that’s just how I’m going to live with it,” Auger-Aliassime said. “There’s not much I can do anymore except going back to training, try to improve, and that’s what I will try to do.”

It’s not as if Auger-Aliassime is mired in a slump, either. He defeated in-form American Reilly Opelka in the second round, holds a 12-5 record in his past five tournaments, and a 29-16 tally on the year. The teen owned only six tour-level wins prior to 2019.

“Every loss for sure is an opportunity to improve,” Auger-Aliassime said. “Today has shown that I need to improve a lot of things still, but I’ll just take the days that I have before Rogers Cup to see what I can work on before starting there.”

Auger-Aliassime was not blown off the court, either. He battled hard and showed flashes of brilliance, including a one-handed backhand flick that brought roars from the crowd. At 4-4 in the second set, he earned a break point that would have allowed him to force a decider. But it was not to be.

“It’s not always easy. Today was a very tough day for me, but I tried to bring the best of me,” Auger-Aliassime said. “Sometimes I’m not proud of myself with what I’m doing, but I try to do whatever I can. In a way I was able to do that. I had a brief point at 4-All where it could have turned my way. But for sure I’m going to fight to earn what I want.”

It’s been a whirlwind of a year for Auger-Aliassime, who has climbed from outside the Top 100 in the ATP Rankings at the start of the year as high as World No. 21. And now, the Canadian will take his momentum home to the Coupe Rogers, where he will compete in front of the Montreal fans for the first time. Although Auger-Aliassime is excited for that, he knows he needs to remain focussed like he would for any other tournament.

“I don’t have to change my routine because of that. It is a big tournament, but it’s a tournament like all the other ones. There’s matches to play,” Auger-Aliassime said. “I have to prepare. I have to do my routines. That doesn’t change. I think I will go out there and keep doing what I’m doing, but with for sure a bit of adjustments to not lose too much energy outside of the court.”

Top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas withstood a spirited challenge from Aussie Jordan Thompson on Thursday at the Citi Open, saving a set point in the second set to prevail under the lights 6-3, 7-6(4).

The victory puts the #NextGenATP Greek into his 10th ATP Tour quarter-final of the season. Tsitsipas seeks his third ATP Tour title of the year after prevailing in Marseille (d. Kukushkin) and Estoril (d. Cuevas). He’ll next take on fifth-seeded American John Isner or No. 10 seed Benoit Paire of France. Tsitsipas is winless against both Paire (0-1) and Isner (0-2) in their FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalries.

More to come… 

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Felix Auger-Aliassime earned perhaps the highlight of the day on Thursday at the Citi Open. But Marin Cilic walked off Stadium Court with even more: a victory against the #NextGenATP Canadian star.

Cilic defeated the ninth-seeded Auger-Aliassime 6-3, 6-4 in one hour and 26 minutes in Washington, D.C., advancing to the quarter-finals when the teenager struck his 11th double fault of the match.

Sixth-seeded Cilic entered the match with just a 12-10 record on the 2019 season. But the Croat has climbed as high as No. 3 in the ATP Rankings and won both a Grand Slam (2014 US Open) and ATP Masters 1000 tournament (Cincinnati) on hard courts, making him a dangerous player at all times.

Cilic broke Auger-Aliassime’s serve in the first game of the match to set the tone, and perhaps that helped the 30-year-old’s confidence. Cilic saved three of the four break points he faced, consistently firing a big serve to get himself out of trouble. He also did a good job of putting returns back into play, forcing the Canadian to beat him in rallies.

At 2-2 in the second set, Auger-Aliassime earned two break points. And later in the game, the 18-year-old saved a Cilic game point with a magnificent one-handed flick down the line, wagging his finger in the air in celebration. It appeared the World No. 22 was on the verge of a breakthrough.

FROM WAY DOWNTOWN ?

What a shot from @felixtennis ??

?: @TennisTV | @CitiOpen pic.twitter.com/ja1pPIWLs8

— ATP Tour (@ATP_Tour) August 1, 2019

But while Cilic bent in the match, he never broke. And the Croat was the steadier player in the biggest moments to claim victory in the pair’s first FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting. Cilic will next face third seed Daniil Medvedev or 2018 Next Gen ATP Finals qualifier Frances Tiafoe.

Also on the bottom half of the draw, Brit Kyle Edmund battled hard to beat Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 after two hours and 23 minutes. The 13th seed withstood 18 Tsonga aces, saving six of the seven break points he faced.

Next up for the World No. 34 is lucky loser Peter Gojowczyk, who ousted eighth seed Milos Raonic 6-4, 6-4 in one hour and 21 minutes. The German, who lost to Donald Young in qualifying, also upset BB&T Atlanta Open champion Alex de Minaur in the second round.

Dominic Thiem has accomplished a lot in 2019: winning his first ATP Masters 1000 title at Indian Wells, reaching his second Grand Slam final at Roland Garros, triumphing in Barcelona for the first time and plenty more. And on Thursday, the World No. 4 moved to within two wins of capturing his maiden ATP Tour trophy at home in Austria.

Thiem defeated Spaniard Pablo Andujar 7-6(4), 6-4 in one hour and 44 minutes to reach the semi-finals of the Generali Open in Kitzbühel. It is the third time the home favourite has made it this far at the ATP 250 tournament in his eighth appearance since it became a tour-level event in 2011.

The key was success on second serves, as Thiem won 61 per cent of his second-serve points, while Andujar only earned 35 per cent of his. The Austrian broke four times in the match, twice in each set.

The top seed now leads Andujar 3-0 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series, and he will next face seventh seed Lorenzo Sonego, who eliminated third seed Fernando Verdasco 6-4, 6-4 in one hour and 35 minutes.

Sonego, at 24, has enjoyed the best season of his career, reaching his first Masters 1000 quarter-final at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters and then earning his first ATP Tour crown at the Turkish Airlines Open Antalya.

The Italian saved four of the five break points he faced against Verdasco, winning 82 per cent of his first-serve points against the Spaniard. Sonego needed a final-set tie-break in each of his first two matches, but he found some of his best tennis to advance to his second tour-level semi-final. He has never previously played Thiem.

#NextGenATP Norwegian Casper Ruud continued his pursuit of a trip to the Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan from 5-9 November, beating fourth seed Pablo Cuevas 6-3, 7-6(4) in one hour and 36 minutes.

Ruud has played just one match each on hard court and grass court this season, losing both, but the 20-year-old has shone on clay. The World No. 65 is now 17-7 on the surface in 2019, reaching his first ATP Tour final in Houston on the red dirt.

Ruud will try to make another championship match when he battles Albert Ramos-Vinolas, who moved past Jeremy Chardy 6-3, 6-4 in one hour and 15 minutes. The Spaniard has rounded into form, winning 11 of his past 12 matches, including a title last week at the J. Safra Sarasin Swiss Open Gstaad.

Ramos-Vinolas has beaten Ruud in their two previous FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings, which both came on clay. The lefty won all five sets they played.

Stefanos Tsitsipas wanted to be alone. Greece’s #NextGenATP star had lost in the first round of Wimbledon, a five-setter to Italy’s Thomas Fabbiano in which Tsitsipas had three break points early in the fifth set but converted none.

The 20-year-old locked himself in his London room for three days. He spent time on his computer and read books. That’s it.

“I thought about this match a lot,” he said on Wednesday in Washington, D.C. “I was very upset.”

But Tsitsipas didn’t exclusively turn to fantasy fiction or a topic that would let him completely think about something other than tennis. Tsitsipas read the novel The Alchemist and a book on his tennis idol, Roger Federer.

“I was reading an autobiography [by] another journalist concerning the life of Roger Federer. One really interesting book about him,” Tsitsipas said. “The details in there are pretty accurate.”

Eventually, though, Tsitsipas did step away from the sport, going on a two-week vacation. “I think that was very important to refuel, recharge my batteries coming in here,” he said.

The World No. 6 returned to his winning ways on Stadium Court at the Citi Open, an ATP 500 event, beating home favourite Tommy Paul of the U.S. 6-3, 7-5 to make the third round. Tsitsipas advanced to the semi-finals last year in Washington before falling to eventual champion Alexander Zverev of Germany.

“I was a bit nervous in the beginning. Didn’t know what to expect. I’m really happy that I got through that first match. It was quite a challenging match,” Tsitsipas said.

On Monday, he and Aussie Nick Kyrgios joined forces for the first time, playing doubles against the No. 1 ranked team in the world, Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah. The reigning Wimbledon champions beat Kyrgios/Tsitsipas, but the extra match time hasn’t hurt either of them. Kyrgios also reached the third round with a 6-4, 7-6(5) win against Gilles Simon.

“I think that released some pressure out of me compared to if I wouldn’t have played doubles,” Tsitsipas said.

The pair plan to play together again at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, which begins 11 August. In Washington, Tsitsipas will next meet Aussie Jordan Thompson, who fought past German Jan-Lennard Struff 6-7(8), 6-4, 7-5.

Fabio Fognini has never successfully defended an ATP Tour title, but he moved closer to doing just that at the Abierto de Tenis Mifel presentado por Cinemex in Los Cabos. The top seed shook off a slow start on Wednesday to win his opening match over Spaniard Marcel Granollers 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Fognini dropped the first four games against Granollers before he began to dial in from the baseline. The top seed broke twice in each of the last two sets to advance in two hours and nine minutes. Fognini, who improved his FedEx ATP Head2Head against Granollers to 4-4, currently sits at a career-high ATP Ranking of No. 9.

Awaiting the Italian in the quarter-finals is fifth-seeded American Taylor Fritz, who continued his top form by rallying to defeat Indian Prajnesh Gunneswaran 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. Fritz finished runner-up last week at the BB&T Atlanta Open (l. to de Minaur) and has won 11 of his past 13 matches. The 21-year-old, who clinched his maiden ATP Tour title this June at the Nature Valley International (d. Querrey), is at a career-high ATP Ranking of No. 28.

Third seed Diego Schwartzman made his Los Cabos debut a memorable one as he raced through the last nine games of his match with Latvian Ernests Gulbis to reach the quarter-finals 7-5, 6-0. Schwartzman dropped just 10 points in the second set.

Next up for him is eighth-seeded Kazakh Mikhail Kukushkin, who defeated Cameron Norrie 7-5, 7-5. The Brit served for both sets at 5-4, but Kukushkin fought back to advance in one hour and 35 minutes. The 31-year-old is enjoying a career-best season that includes a runner-up finish in Marseille (l. to Tsitsipas) and advancing to the second week at Wimbledon. Kukushkin and Schwartzman are even in their FedEx ATP Head2Head at 1-1, but haven’t played in two years. 

Second-seed Guido Pella opened his Los Cabos campaign in style by moving past Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, 6-2 for his eighth ATP Tour quarter-final of the year. Pella went on a six-game run to lead 5-0 in the second set before closing out the match in 71 minutes. The 29-year-old Argentine won his maiden ATP Tour crown this March in Sao Paulo (d. Garin) and reached a career-high ATP Ranking of No. 21 in May.

Awaiting Pella is South Korean qualifier Soonwoo Kwon, who took out Argentine Juan Ignacio Londero 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 for his first ATP Tour quarter-final. The 21-year-old has primarily competed on the ATP Challenger Tour and picked up two titles this season. Kwon, currently No. 112 in the ATP Rankings, will become the third South Korean to crack the Top 100 if he can reach the semi-finals this week.

Seventh-seeded Moldovan Radu Albot scored seven breaks of serve in dispatching Japanese Taro Daniel 6-1, 6-2. He’ll take on Australian wild card Thanasi Kokkinakis, who continued his love affair with Los Cabos by upsetting fourth-seeded Frenchman Lucas Pouille 2-6, 6-4, 6-3. Injuries have limited Kokkinakis to five events this season, but both of his career ATP Tour quarter-finals have come at this event. The Aussie finished runner-up here in 2017 (l. to Querrey).