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.

There will be a Mallorcan flair on the ATP World Tour in 2017, as Rafael Nadal announced on Saturday that he has brought on countryman Carlos Moya as a member of his coaching staff. Two of the three Spaniards to ascend to World No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, Nadal and Moya will join forces immediately, in preparation for the upcoming season.

“I am very excited to announce that Carlos Moya will join my team immediately and work together with Toni (Nadal) and Francisco Roig,” Nadal said. “To have someone like Carlos who is not only a friend but also a very important person in my career is something special. He will be next to me at my practices and competition.”

Moya is no stranger to the coaching ranks, having guided Milos Raonic to a career year on the ATP World Tour and a year-end position of No. 3 in the Emirates ATP Rankings. Raonic entered the 2016 season at No. 14 when Moya was hired.

“Toni Nadal called me and to be honest it was great to receive that call,” said Moya. “To be able to help Rafa is something special for me and I am sure that together with Toni, Francisco and the rest of the team we have a great common project. Rafa is a special player and above all a great person and friend on which I have a lot of trust and confidence that will be able to continue winning important titles.”

The Mallorca natives established a friendly rivalry on the court towards the end of Moya’s playing career. They met on eight occasions from 2003 to 2008, including at four different ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events, with Nadal owning a 6-2 edge. The longtime friends also guided Spain to the Davis Cup title in 2004.

In addition, Moya will join Nadal’s new academy as a technical adviser. “The Rafa Nadal Academy by Movistar is an important challenge in an already very professional structure with great professionals that already do an excellent work,” Moya added.

Nadal is set to open his 2017 campaign at the Brisbane International presented by Suncorp on 2 January. The World No. 9 is hoping to bounce back after ending his 2016 season early due to a wrist injury. Despite the ailment, he compiled a 39-14 match record, including two titles at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters (d. Monfils) and the Barcelona Open BancSabadell (d. Nishikori).

The four players with the most impressive serve statistics since records were first kept in 1991 are Ivo Karlovic, John Isner, Milos Raonic and Andy Roddick.

That list makes total sense. What you may not realize is who is fifth.

It’s Nick Kyrgios.

Kyrgios ended 2016 with his career best Emirates ATP Ranking at No. 13, winning three ATP World Tour titles in Marseille, Atlanta and Tokyo, going 39-15 on the season.

An Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers analysis of the enigmatic 21-year-old Australian reveals he is already establishing himself as one of the best servers in the history of our sport.

Kyrgios is ranked fifth in SERVE LEADERS on the ATP Serve Stats LEADERBOARDS, which is calculated using the percentages of the following six categories.

ATP Serve Stats LEADERBOARDS components

• 1st serve percentage
• 1st serve points won
• 2nd serve points won
• Service games won
• Add average aces/match
• Subtract average double faults

The following table shows Kyrgios’ performance and ranking in the 2016 season in all six serve LEADERBOARD categories.

Kyrgios’ 2016 Season: Serve Statistics / Ranking 

MORE: Kyrgios’ Second Serve Improvements

The beauty of the serve LEADERBOARDS is that it lets you compare identical metrics over different seasons, providing real numbers to some interesting questions. For example, did Kyrgios put up better numbers in 2016 than Pete Sampras put up in his prime? Once again, the answer will surprise you.

From 1993 to 1998, Sampras finished No. 1 in the world in the Infosys Year-end No. 1 LEADERBOARD. Only one of those years, in 1997, did he put up a higher season average than Kyrgios did this season.

Kyrgios / Pete Sampras Serve Leaderboard Comparison

Overall, Kyrgios is fifth best on the Infosys Career Serving LEADERBOARD, ahead of some players that are widely renowned for their prowess serving. The following table compares the young Australian with some of the best server’s our sport has ever seen.

Career Serve LEADERBOARD Rating / Ranking

Saving Break Points

In winning three titles in 2016, Kyrgios greatly impressed with the quantity of break points he saved in Tokyo and Atlanta, and how few break points he faced in winning Marseille. Overall, opponents only converted four of 35 (11 per cent) of break points they generated in the three events combined, which is well below the 31 per cent season average.

Kyrgios: 3 ATP World Tour Titles in 2016

• Marseille: saved 4/4 break points.
• Atlanta: saved 10/12 break points.
• Tokyo: saved 17/19 break points.

Kyrgios is a serving machine. The returning side of the equation is where the focus needs to be for 2017. He is ranked 53rd on the Infosys Return Leaders LEADERBOARD, including being just 62nd best on tour in return points won against 1st serves.

His backhand return technique, in particular, is exemplary, with an extremely efficient, short blocking motion. There is no reason returning won’t develop into a statistical strength as well, and once it does, a future No. 1 ranking beckons.

Continuing our Season In Review Series, ATPWorldTour.com revisits the biggest Grand Slam comebacks of 2016:

4) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga d. John Isner 6-7(3), 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-2, 19-17/3R/Wimbledon

With several second-round matches to be completed, the All England Club announced that play would take place on the Middle Sunday at The Championships for only the fourth time in the tournament’s 139-year history (also 1991, 1997 and 2004). Tickets sold-out within an hour of going on sale on the Saturday afternoon, and it was to Court No. 2 where most fans headed. John Isner, the No. 18 seed, led No. 12 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-6(3), 6-3, 6-7(5). Isner had had a night’s slept to stew over being 5-5, and two break points at 15/40 on Tsonga’s serve.

Six years on from winning the longest match in tennis history, when Isner beat Nicolas Mahut 70-68 in the fifth set, a match that lasted over 11 hours and three days, the American engaged in another tense, lengthy affair. Upon the resumption of play on the Middle Sunday, Tsonga dominated the fourth set but neither player made any impression through the first 30 games of the decider.

Isner’s chance came at 16-15, but Tsonga saved the match point prior to making the decisive breakthrough two games later to close the four-hour and 24-minute encounter. It was Tsonga’s fourth comeback from an 0-2 sets deficit – versus Philipp Petzschner at 2011 Australian Open, versus Federer at 2011 Wimbledon and versus Marcos Baghdatis at 2016 Roland Garros.

“It’s good to be alive,” said Tsonga, who tied Jean Borotra’s record of 103 for most Grand Slam match wins among French players. “I will have a good recovery from this one and tomorrow be fit to play again for sure.” Asked whether he would like to see a tie-break in the fifth set, Isner said: “I would, but I have said that a bunch… It’s fine.”

3) Steve Johnson d. Evgeny Donskoy 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(2), 6-3, 6-3/1R/US Open

The new Grandstand court at the US Open had already staged John Isner’s rallying win from two sets down against Frances Tiafoe, now 24 hours on it was the turn of another American, Steve Johnson, to provide the heroics.

Johnson saved six match points to storm back from an 0-2 deficit to defeat Evgeny Donskoy over three hours and 13 minutes. It was Johnson’s second comeback from two sets down in his career, following a victory over qualifier Laurent Lokoli at 2014 Roland Garros. “I have no idea what’s happening right now,” said Johnson, No. 22 in the Emirates ATP Rankings. “But I really felt the crowd was awesome. I had a blast winning and it’s something I’ll never forget. This is why you play; to get through these tough five-setters and move on.”

Johnson was on the brink when he found himself serving down 2-5 0/40 in the third set. Two return errors and a forehand unforced error from Donskoy, as well as a Johnson ace, saw the California native escape. But he was not out of the woods just yet, staring down the barrel of two more at 5-6. After Donskoy fired a return error, Johnson launched a backhand winner to save the sixth and final match point. From there, the reinvigorated American cruised to the finish line, claiming the set in a tie-break and dropping a combined six games in the fourth and fifth.

“I didn’t look so good for a while,” said Johnson. “At 2-5, I just found a way to hold. I got lucky and then we were back even. I have no idea how I got out of that game and just found a way to win those points. My mentally was that it’s not over. My goal walking out today was to win in three sets, but it doesn’t matter how it comes.”

2) Andy Murray d. Radek Stepanek 3-6, 3-6, 6-0, 6-3, 7-5/1R/Roland Garros
Andy Murray d. Mathias Bourgue 6-2, 2-6, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3/2R/Roland Garros

For the first 10 years of his career, Andy Murray won close to 70 per cent of his matches on clay, posting an 88-39 record (.693). But ahead of Roland Garros, the Briton had gone 29-3 (.906) on the red dirt over the past 12 months. With silverware from the Internazionali BNL d’Italia title, and a runner-up finish at the Mutua Madrid Open, on his mantelpiece at home, Murray began his ninth quest in Paris as joint title favourite with Novak Djokovic.

Visit FedEx ATP Performance Zone

World No. 2 Murray’s surge to becoming a Roland Garros title contender had stemmed from better movement on the crushed brick. But over seven hours, in the first two rounds in the south-west corner of Paris, 37-year-old Radek Stepanek and wild card Mathias Bourge, No. 164 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, caused all manner of problems.

Murray trailed Stepanek by two sets to one when play was suspended due to bad light, then endured a terrific fight against the oldest player in the draw to avoid a first-round exit for the first time since 2008. It was Murray’s ninth 0-2 sets comeback over three hours and 41 minutes. Murray had been two points from defeat at 4-5 deuce in the deciding set.

The following day, it was the turn of wild card Mathias to put the frighteners on Murray, who led 6-2, 2-0 – only to see his game collapse in spectacular fashion. Bourgue, who had not played a tour-level match prior to his Grand Slam debut and was facing a Top 50 player for the first time, won eight straight games – including 16 unanswered point.

Bourge had three opportunities to break Murray’s serve in the first game of the fourth set, but his fitness began to fail him. Murray finally clinched victory in three hours and 34 winners. “I’d been waiting for this for a long time, that’s what I play tennis for. I’m happy even if I lost,” said Bourgue. “It will remain a great memory.” Murray had now won 10 of his past 11 fifth set matches.

1) Roger Federer d. Marin Cilic 6-7(4), 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(9), 6-3/QF/Wimbledon

For Marin Cilic, the opportunity to reach his first Wimbledon semi-final on his 10th straight appearance at the All England Club was close, but yet so far. The Croatian held all the aces during his eagerly awaited match against Roger Federer, but it was the seven-time former champion who held his nerve and took his opportunity when it mattered.

Federer recovered from an 0-2 sets deficit for the 10th time in his career in a classic match-up on the hallowed lawn, Centre Court. Cilic has three break points in a row in the third set to deliver the knock-out punch, something he did so easily in their 2014 US Open semi-finals en route to the trophy.

Federer initially struggled against Cilic’s barrage of big serves – winning 90 per cent of his first service points in the first two sets – and solid groundstrokes. The Swiss superstar stared down the barrel on serve at 3-3, 0/40 in the third set. Cilic earned three match point opportunities in the fourth set, including two on Federer’s serve at 4-5 and 5-6. “If we would go back to play again, I would try to be more aggressive on the chances when I had them in the fourth,” said Cilic, who missed a third match point in the fourth set tie-break. “Maybe there was a slight hesitation [during] some of them.”

Federer carried that momentum for the entire fifth set, breaking Cilic at 4-3 and ending the match with two of his 27 aces. “Today was epic,” said Federer, who advanced to his 11th Wimbledon semi-final. “Probably going to look back at this as being a great, great match that I played in my career, on Centre Court here at Wimbledon. This is huge for me, my season, my career. I’m very, very happy.” The crowd rewarded Federer with a standing ovation.

Continuing our Season In Review Series, ATPWorldTour.com revisits the biggest ATP World Tour comebacks of 2016:

3) Kei Nishikori d. Gael Monfils 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(3) – Miami quarter-finals

Kei Nishikori left his comfort zone on an oppressively hot and muggy day in Key Biscayne by finding a way to come through one of the matches of 2016 on the ATP World Tour. At the end, his shirt saturated, he embraced Gael Monfils following a 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(3) victory for a place in the semi-finals of the Miami Open presented by Itau.

After saving five match points in the two-and-a-half-hour contest, sixth seed Nishikori admitted, “When I was down 4-5, love-40, I thought it was going to be it. It was going to be tough to come back, but I tried to play one point at time.”

Monfils started strongly, but after Nishikori overcame an early setback the Japanese kept pace with the explosive Frenchman. By the start of the third set, No. 16 seed Monfils, clothes soaked with sweat, was clearly labouring under the Miami sun. But instead of going away quietly, he began swinging with abandon. Down 2-4 in the deciding set, Monfils swept through the next three games and held four match points with Nishikori serving to stay in the match at 4-5.

“At 3-4 I really raised my level,” said Monfils. “I started to be very aggressive, started to go for it, and still had the strong feeling that I could make it. At the end, I pushed very hard and definitely had an opportunity to close it out, but Kei fought well. In the tie-break he was just better than me.”

2) Gilles Muller d. John Isner 3-6, 7-6(16), 7-6(7) – London/Queen’s Club second round

In their previous four meetings, seven of their 11 sets had gone to a tie-break, so in the genteel confines of The Queen’s Club, in west London, just as the majority of spectators were settling down to watch Andy Murray in his quest for a record fifth title at the Aegon Championships, a battle royale was instigated on Court 1. No quarter was given over two hours and 25 minutes.

Gilles Muller, a finalist at the Ricoh Open in ‘s-Hertogenbosch just four days earlier, scraped past John Isner, who fired down a tournament record 43 aces, 3-6, 7-6(16), 7-6(7) for a place in the quarter-finals. Muller had previously held the main draw record at the Aegon Championships, hitting 37 aces in 2015 in a three-set first-round win over Mikhail Youzhny.

The Luxembourg native saved 10 match points – six in the second set and four in the third set. Seventh seed Isner had two match point opportunities on his serve at 13-12 in the second set tie-break and at 6-5 in deciding set tie-break. It was the most match points saved on the ATP World Tour in 12 years, when Rainer Schuettler fought off the same number in a 3-6, 7-6(13), 6-0 win over Andreas Seppi in the 2004 Kitzbühel second round.

The 18-16 tie-break was also the longest at The Queen’s Club since the semi-finals in 1997 when Goran Ivanisevic defeated Greg Rusedski 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(18). It was the longest tie-break on the ATP World Tour in 2016. There had been an 18-16 tie-break in a Davis Cup tie in March, when Mirza Basic came back to defeat Malek Jaziri 5-7, 4-6, 7-6(6), 7-6(16), 6-4.

Isner and Muller’s combined 69 aces was the most in an ATP World Tour best-of-three match (since 1991). The previous most was 65 aces last year in The Queen’s Club second round with Isner (36) and Feliciano Lopez (29). It was a match for the record books.

1) Martin Klizan d. Roberto Bautista Agut 6-7(5), 7-6(6), 6-0 – Rotterdam quarter-finals
Martin Klizan d. Nicolas Mahut 6-7(3), 7-6(7), 6-2 – Rotterdam semi-finals

As the ticker tape floated onto the court at the Ahoy Arena in Rotterdam, Martin Klizan could only smile at the end of a memorable week that would have impressed Harry Houdini, the illusionist and escape artist. Not once, but twice had the Slovakian been close to packing his bags at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament. But each time he had managed to wriggle free en route to the biggest title of his career.

In saving five match points to beat sixth seed Roberto Bautista Agut 6-7(5), 7-6(6), 6-0, Klizan broke a four-match losing streak against his in-form Spanish opponent, who had already picked up two ATP World Tour titles and won 13 of his past 14 matches in the early days of the 2016 ATP World Tour season. Klizan saved two match points when serving at 4-5 in the second set, then saved a further three match points in the next game that saw him convert a break point with a superb forehand return winner down the line. “It was a very, very tough match. I was almost on the plane,” said Klizan, after the two-hour and 44-minute victory. “I saved five match points, which is incredible. I am very happy that I won, breaking his four-match winning streak he had over me. Despite Roberto’s match points, I kept fighting, because it isn’t over until it’s over.”

Less than 24 hours later, the 26-year-old Klizan reached his first ATP World Tour indoor final since the 2012 St. Petersburg Open, with a swashbuckling comeback win over qualifier Nicolas Mahut 6-7(3), 7-6(7), 6-2. Serve-volleyer Mahut held the upper hand for the majority of the match, but Klizan took risks after saving one match point on his serve at 3-5 in the second set. In an emotionally-charged tie-break, Klizan saved two more match points before levelling with a drive volley. The Slovakian then broke Mahut in the opening game of the decider, finishing the match with 45 winners. “It was an incredible moment,” Klizan said. “I will remember this tournament until the day I die. I never thought I could win, because Nicolas was playing great tennis. Maybe I was lucky, but I tried to fight until the last point. I think the crowd enjoyed the show.”

Klizan went on to maintain his perfect record in ATP World Tour finals (4-0) the next day, with another three-set comeback win over fifth seed Gael Monfils. His eight match points saved were the most en route to a title since Felix Mantilla saved nine match points at 2001 Palermo – all versus Albert Portas in the semi-finals. “I cannot believe that it happened,” said Klizan. “It was my dream to be on the board with these unbelievably great players. It’s an amazing feeling. Every day I was just fighting. Most of the time I had three-hour matches every day, so the only thing I could do was fight. In the end I saved so many match points. I still cannot believe it.”

Honourable Mentions

Guido Pella d. [4] John Isner 7-6(5), 5-7, 7-6(8) – Saved 3 M.P. – Rio de Janeiro first round
[WC] Noah Rubin d. Sam Groth 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(6) – Saved 3 M.P. – Delray Beach first round
[4] Rafael Nadal d. Alexander Zverev 6-7(8), 6-0, 7-5 – Saved 1 M.P. – Indian Wells third round
[LL] Horacio Zeballos d. Fernando Verdasco 1-6, 6-4, 7-6(4) – Saved 1 M.P. – Miami second round
Diego Schwartzman d. [1] David Goffin 7-5, 2-6, 7-5 – Saved 2 M.P. – Antwerp semi-finals