Argentine Mariano Navone and American Zachary Svajda continued their standout seasons this past week on the ATP Challenger Tour. The 22-year-old Navone won his fourth Challenger title of the season while Svajda, 20, secured back-to-back titles in California.

Navone won on home soil at the Challenger de Buenos Aires, where he rallied past top seed Federico Coria 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the final. Now at a career-high No. 146 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, Navone joins Thiago Seyboth Wild atop the season leaderboard as the only players with four ATP Challenger Tour trophies.

“I feel very good. I’m very happy to win this title here. I won three matches in three sets so I’m very happy and tired,” said Navone. “I’m a guy who needs support and it’s fun to see me shouting, ‘Vamos!’ with the crowd and today was very special to win on Mother’s Day in Argentina. I enjoyed the tournament and the crowd. This is the most special Navone, Svajda Earn Challenger Titles To Continue Career-Best Seasons.”

This year also marks the third straight season with an Argentine winning at least four ATP Challenger Tour titles (Pedro Cachin won four in 2022, Sebastian Baez earned six in 2021.)

“Total surprise,” Navone said. “The fourth is the most important for me because it’s the tournament I hoped [to win] all year. I prepared with great intensity for two weeks for this tournament.”

Navone’s countryman Francisco Comesana enjoyed a quarter-final run in Buenos Aires to become the first player to win 40 Challenger matches this year. The 23-year-old, who has captured two Challenger titles this season, is at a career-high No. 117.

Svajda is enjoying a career-best season, including two consecutive titles in his home state California. After winning the Tiburon Challenger last week, Svajda was crowned champion at the Taube – Grossman Pro Tennis Tournament, where he defeated 18-year-old Nishesh Basavareddy 6-4, 6-1 to earn his fourth career ATP Challenger Tour title.

“It’s so important to keep going. I feel like last year I would do well, have a good tournament and then the next couple weeks I would be tired or not fully there mentally,” Svajda told commentator Mike Cation. “I just feel more mature right now, stronger, and mentally better. Backing up [the title in Tiburon] means a lot to me.”

At 13th in the Pepperstone ATP Race To Jeddah, Svajda has a chance to make a late-season push to earn his maiden qualification into the Next Gen ATP Finals, which showcases the world’s best 21-and-under players. Svajda has won 16 of his past 17 Challenger-level matches and is just the second #NextGenATP player with three titles at that level in 2023, alongside Hamad Medjedovic.

This year marks the third straight season an American aged 20-and-under has won three Challenger titles. Ben Shelton did so last year and Jenson Brooksby conquered the feat in 2021. Svajda triumphed in Cary, North Carolina last month before winning in Tiburon and Fairfield the past two weeks.

“I knew my hard work was going to pay off somewhere and I didn’t know when,” said Svajda, who is at a career-high No. 139. “It feels nice and I want to keep it going. It feels awesome but I’m not satisfied with this. I’ll celebrate some but this is important to keep backing up weeks and keep getting on a good run.”

In Fairfield doubles action, Evan King and Reese Stalder claimed their fifth doubles crown of the season, joining Hendrik Jebens and Constantin Frantzen as the only teams with five Challenger titles in 2023. The Germans Jebens and Frantzen have won a season-leading six team titles.

Two former college stars also claimed ATP Challenger Tour titles Sunday. American Aleksandar Kovacevic, who graduated from the University of Illinois in 2021, did not drop a set all week en route to winning the Shenzhen Longhua Open, where he downed Portugal’s Nuno Borges 7-6(4), 7-6(5) in the final.

Aleksandar Kovacevic wins the Challenger 100 event in Shenzhen, China.” />
^{Aleksandar Kovacevic wins the Challenger 100 event in Shenzhen, China. Credit: Shenzhen Longhua Open}
Kovacevic captured his maiden Challenger crown in January in Cleveland, Ohio and the ensuing month returned to the winners’ circle in Waco, Texas. Following his triumph in China, Kovacevic climbed 34 spots to No. 112, just 11 spots shy of tying his career high, which he reached in April.

Former University of Kentucky standout Gabriel Diallo earned his second ATP Challenger Tour trophy and first of this season at the Peugeot Slovak Open. The 22-year-old defeated Belgian Joris De Loore 6-0, 7-5 to become the youngest Canadian to win two Challenger titles since his fellow Montreal native Felix Auger-Aliassime (2018).

“I’m pretty happy that I got the job done, it wasn’t easy,” said Diallo, who is at a career-high No. 130. “He had chances in the second set but I’m happy that I stayed calm to get my first title of the year. It’s an individual sport but we also have so many people in the background, so I’m really happy for my team as well.”

Gabriel Diallo wins the Challenger 125 event in Bratislava, Slovakia.” />
^{Gabriel Diallo wins the Challenger 125 event in Bratislava, Slovakia. Credit: Peugeot Slovak Open}
A pivotal moment for Diallo came in the second round, when he survived top seed and former World No. 3 Dominic Thiem in a third-set tie-break to keep his title hopes alive. Diallo stayed steady to become the 15th different former collegiate player to win a Challenger title 2023, tying the single-season record previously set in 2022.

Frenchman Ugo Blanchet earned his maiden Challenger title in Malaga, Spain, where he advanced through qualifying and won seven matches across eight days to triumph. The 24-year-old did not drop a set all week and overcame Italian Mattia Bellucci 6-4, 6-4 in the Malaga Open final.

Players from France have combined for a record-breaking 25 ATP Challenger Tour trophies this year, with Blanchet becoming the 17th different champion from his country this season. Blanchet is at a career-high World No. 209.

Ugo Blanchet wins the Challenger 125 event in Malaga, Spain.” />
^{Ugo Blanchet wins the Challenger 125 event in Malaga, Spain. Credit: Julio Salcedo}

Holger Rune is currently eighth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin as he tries to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals for the first time. But this week with three tournaments — the Kinoshita Group Japan Open Tennis Championships, the BNP Paribas Nordic Open and the European Open — being played, the battle for a spot at the season finale could drastically change.

Rune is currently 145 points ahead of ninth-placed Taylor Fritz. The Dane will focus on what he can control in Stockholm, where he is the top seed and defending champions. The 20-year-old would add 250 points to his total with a title.

“Definitely one of the goals is to be able to get into Turin, the Finals, at the end of the year,” Rune told the media at the China Open in Beijing. He later added: “I’m going to try to focus on what I do instead of what everybody else is doing.”

Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin Standings

From sixth through 18th place in the Live Race, 12 of the 13 players are in action this week. The only exception is 16th-placed Grigor Dimitrov, who made the Shanghai semi-finals.

Every player from ninth through 15th place is competing in Tokyo, where the champion will add 500 points to his tally. If Fritz wins the title, he will leapfrog Rune in the Live Race no matter how the Dane performs in Stockholm.

Fifth-placed Andrey Rublev, who is not in action this week, built a 660-point advantage over sixth-placed Stefanos Tsitsipas by advancing to the Shanghai final. Tsitsipas can claw closer to Rublev and further secure his standing with a deep run at the European Open in Antwerp, where he is the top seed.

Seventh seed Alexander Zverev, a two-time Nitto ATP Finals champion, is playing in Tokyo. The German is 305 points ahead of Rune and could extend his advantage this week. He is trying to qualify for the season finale one year after suffering a severe ankle injury at Roland Garros, which kept him out for the rest of the season.

“It’s good to be back in the Top 10. It’s good to be back in contention for Turin as well,” Zverev told ATP Media. “If I continue playing the way I was playing the past few months I think I have great chances.

“Coming back from an injury like that where I was out for seven months, where I didn’t know what my level would be coming back, being in contention for Turin and making Turin, that would be a great achievement.”

Hubert Hurkacz and Novak Djokovic are the only two players in 2023 to save a match point en route to an ATP Tour title in two separate tournaments.

Hurkacz joined Djokovic on the exclusive list when he saved one championship point in the Shanghai final against Andrey Rublev. It was the second consecutive ATP Masters 1000 event at which the champion saved match point during his title run, after Novak Djokovic did so in Cincinnati against Carlos Alcaraz.

The Polish star also saved a match point in February at the Open 13 Provence in Marseille. He saved a match point in the quarter-finals against Mikael Ymer and did not lose a set the rest of the week.

Djokovic accomplished the feat in his first tournament of the season, the Adelaide International 1. He was on the brink against Sebastian Korda before rallying for the victory.

The Serbian also saved championship point against Alcaraz in the final of the Western & Southern Open. The three-hour, 49-minute battle was one of the best matches of 2023.

Eight times in 2023 a champion has triumphed after saving match point en route to the title. On six of those occasions, the champion saved match point in the final.

The stars have enjoyed their time off court in Tokyo — Felix Auger-Aliassime and Alexander Zverev made sushi on Saturday. But they will now turn their attention to the ATP 500 action on the court at the Kinoshita Group Japan Open Tennis Championships.

Fans in Tokyo will be treated to tantalising encounters from the first round, headlined by a Top 20-showdown between top seed Taylor Fritz and Cameron Norrie.

The headlining battle between two former ATP Masters 1000 champions is for more than just a place in the second round. The result will have major ramifications in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin.

Fritz is in ninth place, 145 points behind Holger Rune, who currently holds the final qualifying spot. Norrie, who is 17th in the Live Race, will try to damage the top seed and defending champion’s Turin pursuit. The pair has split 12 previous Lexus ATP Head2Head clashes, eight of which have gone to a deciding set.

Third seed Zverev, who is seventh in the Live Race, will begin his tournament against Jordan Thompson while eighth seed Auger-Aliassime will face Aleksandar Vukic.

Shanghai champion Hubert Hurkacz will try to maintain his momentum against Zhang Zhizhen and second seed Casper Ruud will try to hold off Japanese wild card Yosuke Watanuki.

Other matches to watch include fourth seed Alex de Minaur taking on British qualifier Jack Draper, and sixth seed Frances Tiafoe playing Aslan Karatsev in a battle of former major semi-finalists. In a generational clash, Argentine No. 1 Francisco Cerundolo will face former Argentine No. 1 Diego Schwartzman.

Did You Know?
Eight of the Top 15 players in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin are competing this week in Tokyo. 

Hubert Hurkacz has his eyes on the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin.

The Pole captured his second ATP Masters 1000 title on Sunday at the Rolex Shanghai Masters and has now climbed to 11th in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin, 335 points behind Holger Rune, who currently occupies the all-important eighth spot.

“Coming to this couple of weeks starting here in Shanghai I knew I [had] to give myself a chance, I need to be winning tournaments, so that’s a pretty good start,” Hurkacz said of his Turin hopes. “I mean, just an amazing week here in Shanghai. I really enjoyed it here with the team, but ultimately, we just want to get better every single day and improve, enjoy those moments, but we’re just going to try our best and then just keep fighting and keep competing.”

The 26-year-old, who competed at the prestigious year-end event in 2021, battled hard against Andrey Rublev in Sunday’s final, saving one match point en route to his seventh tour-level crown. Hurkacz holds a 7-1 record in tour-level finals.

“Andrey was playing some really good tennis, and I knew I had to produce the shots, so I was just trying to stay out there and compete as hard as I could and to keep positive self-talk and then keep the belief until the end,” Hurkacz said. “At the end of the day, it’s a final, and you want to just give it all you got out there.”

Watching the final in the stands was two-time champion Roger Federer. Hurkacz is pleased to have joined the Swiss legend as a title winner in Shanghai.

“There’s so many champions who won it in the past and so many amazing players and in my speech I was trying to thank everyone. I forgot to mention Roger, thanks for coming. Hopefully, he won’t take it personally,” Hurkacz said, cracking a smile. “But definitely fun to play in front of him. Hopefully he enjoyed it a little bit.”

Hurkacz now holds a 39-20 record on the season. He captured his maiden Masters 1000 title in Miami in 2021.

With just four weeks until the Nitto ATP Finals, the home stretch of the 2023 season continues this week with action in Tokyo, Stockholm and Antwerp.

Defending champion Taylor Fritz returns to the Kinoshita Group Japan Open Tennis Championships as the top seed at the ATP 500, while defending champ Holger Rune is back at the BNP Paribas Nordic Open in Sweden and Stefanos Tsitsipas leads the field at the European Open in Belgium.

ATPTour.com looks at five things to watch at each event.

FIVE THINGS TO WATCH IN TOKYO

1) Fritz Bids For Third Title Of 2023: Taylor Fritz broke into the Top 10 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings for the first time behind his 2023 Tokyo title run. He has since reached as high as World No. 5 and now returns to Japan at No. 8. With a repeat trophy run, the American will become a three-time ATP Tour champion for the second straight year. But he faces a tough road to the crown, beginning with a first-round match against Cameron Norrie.

2) Live Race Implications: The results in Tokyo will have a crucial impact on the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin, with each of the players placed ninth through 12th in action. Fritz is in ninth, 305 points behind eighth-placed Rune. Fritz is trailed by Casper Ruud, Tommy Paul and Alex de Minaur. Alexander Zverev, currently seventh in the Live Race, also faces a critical week in his bid to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals.

3) Five Seeded Americans Hope To Repeat All-U.S. Final: Seeds Fritz, Paul and Frances Tiafoe are joined by Shanghai quarter-finalist Ben Shelton and Mackenzie McDonald in the Tokyo draw. The five Americans are the most direct entries from any nation, prior to the inclusion of qualifiers. Last year in Tokyo, Fritz defeated Tiafoe in an all-American final.

4) Nishioka Among Four Japanese Entrants: Yoshihito Nishioka joins wild cards Shintaro Mochizuki, Sho Shimabukuro and Yosuke Watanuki in the main draw, giving the home nation four players in the singles field before any potential qualifiers. Nishioka, the top-ranked Japanese man at No. 48 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, will bid to improve upon his 1-5 record in Tokyo when he opens against a qualifier.

5) Bopanna/Ebden Lead Doubles Draw: Top seeds Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden have already qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals, but the three other seeded doubles teams in Tokyo are still working towards a place in Turin. Second seeds and Shanghai champions Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos are in fourth place in the Pepperstone ATP Live Doubles Teams Rankings, the highest position among pairs yet to qualify.

FIVE THINGS TO WATCH IN STOCKHOLM

1) Rune Seeks Another Late-Season Surge: The Dane picked up his first match win since Wimbledon in Beijing but was dominated in the Shanghai opening-round by Brandon Nakashima. The Dane will hope to recreate the stellar close to the season he produced in 2022, when he won two titles (Stockholm, Paris) and reached two additional finals in his final four events of the season. Currently just inside the cut in eighth place in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin, Rune is aiming to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals for the first time.

2) Fan-Favourite Veterans Wawrinka, Monfils: Stan Wawrinka will open against Borna Gojo, with the winner advancing to face Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. Monfils entered Stockholm with a protected ranking and will face Marton Fucsovics in the first round at the event he won in 2011.

3) Astana Champ Mannarino Seeded Second: France’s Adrian Mannarino began the Asian Swing with a title in Astana, but was beaten by eventual finalist Andrey Rublev in the Shanghai second round. The 35-year-old Manarinno will open against Roman Safiullin or Thiago Seyboth Wild after a first-round bye. Top seed Rune, third seed Tallon Griekspoor and fourth seed Davidovich Fokina also have byes into the second round.

4) Borg Among Three Swedish Wild Cards: Leo Borg, son of former World No. 1 Bjorn Borg, is joined by Elias Ymer and Karl Friberg in the main draw. Borg lost a three-setter to American Paul last year in the Stockholm opening round, while Ymer was edged by Tiafoe in a final-set tie-break in the second round.

5) Top Doubles Seeds Gonzalez/Molteni Have Turin In Sight: The Argentine duo of Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni enter Stockholm in fifth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Doubles Teams Rankings as they close in on a place at the Nitto ATP Finals. They will face Andrey Golubev and Denys Molchanov in the first round.

FIVE THINGS TO WATCH IN ANTWERP

1) Top Seed Tsitsipas: With father and coach Apostolos Tsitsipas back in his travelling team, Tsitsitsipas will battle to snap his streak of early exits. Since he won the Los Cabos title in August, the Greek has not won multiple singles matches at a tour-level event. Still, he remains sixth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin in his bid to return to the Nitto ATP Finals.

2) Marozsan Bids To Back Up Shanghai QF Run: After notching four wins to reach the Shanghai quarters, including upsets of Casper Ruud and Alex de Minaur, Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan will open against another seeded opponent in Antwerp: eighth seed Juan Pablo Varillas of Peru. Marozsan, who beat Carlos Alcaraz this year in Rome and first cracked the Top 100 in June, moved up 26 places to No. 65 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings behind his Shanghai run. 

3) Veteran Thiem vs. Jeddah-Chasing Nardi: In an intriguing opening-round match, Dominic Thiem will take on 20-year-old Italian Luca Nardi. Thiem reached the Astana quarter-finals two weeks ago, while Nardi is bidding to qualify for the Next Gen ATP Finals. He is currently in 12th place in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Jeddah.

Other Jeddah hopefuls in the Antwerp draw include fourth seeed Arthur Fils and Dominic Stricker, with the Swiss set to open against Botic van de Zandschulp.

4) Goffin Holds Belgium’s Hopes: Home Favourite David Goffin, a wild card, is the lone Belgian in the main draw — though more could still join via qualifying. The 32-year-old will bid to become the first Belgian champion in the tournament’s history (since 2016).

5) Six Frenchmen Dot Draw: The 19-year-old Fils leads a large contingent from France, Belgium’s neighbour to the west and south. He is joined by seventh seed Richard Gasquet, Quentin Halys, Gregoire Barrere, Arthur Rinderknech and Hugo Gaston, with the latter two set to meet in the first round.

Hubert Hurkacz captured his second ATP Masters 1000 title in dramatic fashion on Sunday at the Rolex Shanghai Masters, where he saved one match point to defeat Andrey Rublev 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(8).

In a heavy-hitting final, the Pole used his booming serve to great effect in key moments. He fired 21 aces, won 81 per cent (57/70) of his first-serve points and hung tough deep in the third set, saving one championship point at 5/6 in the third-set tie-break before converting on his fourth opportunity to earn his second Top 10 win of the season after two hours and nine minutes.

“It was such a battle,” Hurkacz said. “Especially emotionally. I had a match point and Andrey hit an amazing serve and then he had a match point and then I had some match points. It was back and forth and such a tricky match. Andrey was playing some great shots. I was trying to respond. It was one of those matches and I kept believing and I am super happy with how I managed at the end.

“It is such a big tournament and so much tradition. It is a huge event and I am really happy now.”

Never forget 🤩

The moment @HubertHurkacz wins the biggest title of his season.#RolexShanghaiMasters | @SH_RolexMasters pic.twitter.com/RWYlTRqJIC

— ATP Tour (@atptour) October 15, 2023

The 26-year-old has now captured seven tour-level titles, with his triumph in Shanghai his second ATP Masters 1000 triumph. He also lifted the trophy in Miami in 2021, defeating Jannik Sinner in the final.

With his 39th win of the season, Hurkacz improved to 3-2 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series, while he propelled himself to 11th in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin. He is just 335 points behind Holger Rune, who currently occupies the all-important eighth position. Hurkacz is aiming to make his second appearance at the Nitto ATP Finals, having qualified in 2021.

Rublev was chasing his second Masters 1000 title after winning in Monte-Carlo in April. The 25-year-old, who did not drop a set en route to the final, is fifth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin.

In a dramatic match in Shanghai, both played with destructive power. Hurkacz won 90 per cent (18/20) of his first-serve points in the first set to control his service games and hammered a forehand winner in the sixth game of the opener to claim the decisive break.

Rublev was able to get the first strike in rallies in the second set, though, hitting his flat groundstrokes to good effect as he blasted 16 winners to force a decider.

Another serving masterclass from @HubertHurkacz 👏🏆🎾

1st serve avg. speed of 131mph (211kph) and making 75% is ELITE 🤯#TennisInsights | @atptour | @SH_RolexMasters pic.twitter.com/vinQ7u4BTR

— Tennis Insights (@tennis_insights) October 15, 2023

With little to separate them, Rublev saved one match point on serve at 4-5 before he raced to a 5/2 lead in the third-set tie-break. Hurkacz refused to go away, however, finding consecutive aces before forcing Rublev into an error to level at 5/5. Hurkacz then saved a match point at 5/6, before he converted on his fourth chance to earn his biggest win of the season.

Hurkacz is the sixth player this season to save at least one match point en route to winning a tour-level title. The Pole also achieved the feat in Marseille in February, saving one match point in the quarter-finals against Mikael Ymer.

Did You Know?
Hurkacz holds a 7-1 record in tour-level finals, with his only defeating coming in the Montreal championship match in 2022 to Pablo Carreno Busta.

Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos captured their fifth ATP Masters 1000 title and first of the season together on Sunday when they overcame fourth seeds Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden 5-7, 6-2, 10-7 at the Rolex Shanghai Masters.

The seventh seeds did not drop a set en route to the final but were made to work hard by Bopanna and Ebden, who were chasing their third trophy of the season as a team.

After dropping serve in the 12th game of the first set to lose the opener, Granollers and Zeballos responded by racing into a 4-0 lead in the second set. They won 53 per cent (8/15) of points on Bopanna and Ebden’s first serves in the set to level before converting on their third match point in the Match Tie-break to triumph after 84 minutes.

“We were playing against a great team,” Zeballos said. “They were serving very well, doing great stuff but I think the most important thing was to stay confident and keep talking. At the end we were playing really good tennis.”

With their 33rd win of the season, the Spanish-Argentine tandem has consolidated its position in fourth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Doubles Teams Rankings. Granollers and Zeballos are aiming to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals for the fourth consecutive year.

“We have been working really hard this year to finally get that trophy,” Granollers said. We played great all week and have been for the past months. Everything came together.”

They have now won five Masters 1000 titles, also triumphing in Montreal (2019), Rome (2020), Madrid (2021) and Cincinnati (2021). Sunday’s victory was their eighth title triumph together and first since Halle in 2022.

Bopanna and Ebden are 32-17 in their first season together and stamped their ticket for the Nitto ATP Finals by reaching the final in Shanghai.