A LOOK BACK

Citta’ Di Caltanissetta (Caltanissetta, Italy): More than 2,000 people came out to watch an all-Italian final that saw top seed Paolo Lorenzi save six championship points in defeating wild card Matteo Donati, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(7). The final was the longest on the ATP Challenger Tour this year at two hours and 48 minutes. It gave the 34-year-old his second ATP Challenger Tour title of the year (having prevailed this January in Canberra, Australia) and 18^th of his career. He also eclipsed 350 career match wins during the week, moving to 353-216.

Match Points Saved In 2016 Finals

Although he wasn’t able to win his first ATP Challenger Tour title, the week was a success for Donati. Prior to Caltanissetta, he had won just four main draw matches all year on the ATP Challenger Tour.

Sparta Prague Open (Prague, Czech Republic): No. 6 seed Adam Pavlasek of the Czech Republic delighted the local crowd by defeating No. 3 seed Stephane Robert of France, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. The win gave Pavlasek his first ATP Challenger Tour title of the year after finishing runner-up in three other events this year. He also recorded the biggest win of his career this week by defeating local favourite and World No. 59 Lukas Rosol in the quarter-finals. Pavlasek becomes the ninth player this year to break into the Top 100 of the Emirates ATP Rankings.

Robert was looking for his second Challenger title of the year, having won the $50,000 event this February in New Delhi, India. He has more than cut his ranking in half this season to be ranked inside the Top 100 of the Emirates ATP Rankings.

Aegon Surbiton Trophy (Surbiton, England): No. 3 seed Yen-Hsun Lu of Taipei completed his return from elbow surgery by defeating qualifier Marius Copil of Romania in this grass-court final, 7-5, 7-6(11). Lu led 5-4 in the first set before rain forced the match to be moved to an indoor hard court. The win gives Lu an unprecedented 23^rd ATP Challenger Tour title and his first on grass. He has now reached back-to-back finals on grass, having finished as runner-up last week at the ATP Challenger Tour event in Manchester.

Challenger Title Leaders

Despite the loss, Copil achieved his best result of the year in reaching his first final of 2016. Qualifiers are now 1-6 in finals this year on the ATP Challenger Tour.

Open Sopra-Steria De Lyon (Lyon, France): In just his third tournament since undergoing wrist surgery in February, No. 8 seed Steve Darcis of Belgium stormed through the final stages of the championship match against No. 4 seed Thiago Monteiro of Brazil to take the title, 3-6, 6-2, 6-0. The 32-year-old showed his resilience throughout the week by prevailing in four three-set matches. This is his seventh career ATP Challenger Tour title.

Monteiro was looking for his second career ATP Challenger Tour title, having won last month in Aix-en-Provence, France. The 22-year-old has jumped well over 300 spots in the Emirates ATP Rankings since the start of the year.

Hoff Open (Moscow, Russia): Top seed Mikhail Kukushkin won back-to-back ATP Challenger Tour titles with a convincing win in the final over Steven Diez of Canada, 6-3, 6-3. The 28-year-old also won last week at the $125,000 event in Prostejov, Czech Republic. He was in peak form at the latter stages of the tournament, dropping just 10 games in his final three matches. Kukushkin is now on a 15-match win streak on the ATP Challenger Tour, having also prevailed last July in Astana, Kazakhstan. 

Despite the loss, Diez can be satisfied with reaching his second ATP Challenger Tour final, with his other runner-up showing coming in Noumea in January 2014. He has climbed over 500 spots in the Emirates ATP Rankings in the past 12 months.

WHAT THEY SAID

Lu: “I’m very happy, especially to make the final last week and come here this week and focus on each match one by one.”

“I’m really happy with the way I’m playing on the grass this season. I didn’t put high expectations in the first two tournaments, but I got used to it very quickly and played good games over the last two weeks. There’s still a while to go to Wimbledon, so I hope I can keep in this condition.”

A LOOK AHEAD

Five $50,000 Challengers take over the calendar this week. The third and final event on the ATP Challenger Tour’s grass court run through England will commence in Ilkley. The tournament is back for the second consecutive year and features world No. 90 Jordan Thompson of Australia as the No. 1 seed. Lu, the second seed, will recreate his final with Copil in Surbiton when they square off in the first round. Other notable names in the draw include American Bjorn Fratangelo, the No. 3 seed this year, and #NextGen star Quentin Halys of France.

The Challenger in Perugia, Italy, returns for the second consecutive year. World No. 83 Rogerio Dutra Silva of Brazil is the No. 1 seed and Roberto Carballes Baena of Spain is the No. 2 seed. #NextGen star Elias Ymer of Sweden, the No. 3 seed, has a tricky opening round in local favourite and last year’s runner-up Matteo Viola. Donati is also in the draw and will look to continue his form from Caltanissetta. Other notable names in the draw include former Top 25 player Filippo Volandri of Italy.

The event in Poprad Tatry, Slovakia, is also back for the second straight year. Local favourite and World No. 51 Martin Klizan is the top seed, while World No. 92 Horacio Zeballos of Argentina is the No. 2 seed and World No. 98 and #NextGen star Karen Khachanov of Russia is the No. 3 seed. Other notable names include defending champion Pavlasek, who looks to replicate his run in Prague as the No. 5 seed, and No. 6 seed Gerald Melzer of Austria, a winner of three ATP Challenger Tour titles this year. A major name in the qualifying draw is former World No. 8 Jurgen Melzer of Austria, who is competing in his first tournament since having shoulder surgery after last year’s US Open.

The tournament in Blois, France, returns for the fourth consecutive year. Former Top 25 player Albert Montanes of Spain is the No. 1 seed and Carlos Berlocq of Argentina is the No. 2 seed. Monteiro and Darcis will look to continue their form from Lyon as the No. 4 and No. 6 seeds, respectively. Another notable name in the draw is local favourite and defending champion Mathias Bourgue, this year’s No. 7 seed.

Lastly, the event in Fergana, Uzbekistan, returns for the 17^th consecutive year. Konstantin Kravchuk of Russia is the top seed and Radu Albot of Moldova is the second seed. Other notable names in the draw include former Top 70 player Blaz Kavcic of Slovenia and Sam Barry of Ireland, who reached the final last month at the ATP Challenger Tour event in Bangkok.

View Draws & Watch Free Live Streams

ATP CHALLENGER TOUR ON TWITTER: New in 2016, the ATP Challenger Tour has launched a dedicated Twitter account for the latest news and information about players and events. Follow @ATPChallengerTour at twitter.com/ATPChallengerTour.

Strong 500 Level Tournaments: Two traditional grass-court tournaments on the ATP World Tour in their second year as 500 level events take place with 20 of the Top 25 players in the Emirates ATP Rankings in action. The Aegon Championships at The Queen’s Club in London and Gerry Weber Open in Halle both feature four of the Top 10 players in the Emirates ATP Rankings.

Career FedEx ATP Performance Zone Grass Court Index Leaders: Federer has the best career winning percentage on grass (.873, 144-21) and most titles (15) in the Open Era.

Aegon Championships (London): The Aegon Championships was voted Tournament of the Year in its category for the third consecutive year by ATP World Tour players in January, winning the award in its debut year as an ATP 500 event. The outstanding field is led by World No. 2 and four-time champion (2009, ’11, ’13, ’15) Andy Murray, No. 5 Stan Wawrinka, No. 9 Milos Raonic and No. 10 Richard Gasquet. The other seeds are Marin Cilic, Roberto Bautista Agut, John Isner and Gilles Simon. There are three other former champions in the field: Grigor Dimitrov (2014), Cilic (2012) and Sam Querrey (2010).

Murray Top Seed/Reigning Champ: Murray is making his 11th appearance in 12 years (except ’07) at The Queen’s Club. He has a 25-5 career record, winning all four titles in odd years (2009, ’11, ’13, ‘15). He is 21-1 in odd years (4-4 in even yrs.). The 29-year-old Brit is coming off an impressive 18-3 record on clay, winning the ATP Masters 1000 Rome and reaching the final at the ATP Masters 1000 Madrid and Roland Garros. This season he owns a 28-6 record

Looking For Five: Murray is trying to become the first five-time winner at the The Queen’s Club in the Open Era. Three other players have won four titles: John McEnroe (1979, ’81, ’83-84), Lleyton Hewitt (2000-02, ’06) and Andy Roddick (2003-05, ’07).

Young Stars Meet Again: This is the sixth meeting between two of the young stars on the ATP World Tour as #NextGen Nick Kyrgios and Milos Raonic square off in the first round. The 21-year-old Kyrgios, who is the youngest in the Top 20 Emirates ATP Rankings at No. 19, has won the past three meetings, including this season at ATP Masters 1000 events in Miami (QF) and Rome (2R). Raonic won the first two meetings at Roland Garros and Wimbledon in 2014.

British Contingent: There are three British wild cards in the tournament – Kyle Edmund, Daniel Evans and James Ward, a semi-finalist in 2011 (l. to Tsonga). They join the top two British duo of Murray and Aljaz Bedene. Four of the five players (except Ward) take on French opponents in the first round.

Wimbledon Champs on Sidelines: There are two former Wimbledon champions at the The Queen’s Club assisting as coaches. Three-time Wimbledon and four-time Queen’s Club champion John McEnroe is helping Milos Raonic during the grass-court circuit while 1996 Wimbledon winner Richard Krajicek is assisting Stan Wawrinka. Both players are searching for their first ATP World Tour grass title.

Janko Returns: Former World No. 8 Janko Tipsarevic returns to The Queen’s Club for the first time since 2012. This is the 31-year-old Serb’s ninth tournament appearance (7-8 record) and his best result is the third round in 2008, ’11-12.

Outstanding Doubles Field: There are five of the Top 10 in the Emirates ATP Doubles Team Rankings in the main draw, led by top seeds Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut. The Frenchmen have compiled a 19-4 match record and won three titles this season.

British Streak: The No. 1 duo in the 2015 Emirates ATP Doubles Team Rankings, Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau, have won 11 matches in a row on British soil going back to last season. Rojer and Tecau captured their first Grand Slam title together at Wimbledon and closed out the year by winning the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London.

Roland Garros Champs Reunite: Unseeded Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez are back in action for the first time since capturing the Roland Garros title (d. Bryans). The Spanish duo have compiled a 20-9 match record this season and are No. 4 in the Emirates ATP Doubles Team Rankings.

Gerry Weber Open (Halle): Roger Federer, Kei Nishikori, Dominic Thiem and Tomas Berdych, four of the top eight players in the Emirates ATP Rankings, lead the 24^th edition of the Gerry Weber Open. The other seeds are David Goffin, David Ferrer, Viktor Troicki and Philipp Kohlschreiber. Federer, who owns a tournament record eight titles, is one of three former winners in the field, along with Kohlschreiber (2011) and Berdych (2007).

King of Grass: Federer is making his 14^th appearance in Halle in the past 17 years (except 07, ’09, ’11). The Swiss superstar is the most successful grass court player in the Open Era with 15 titles and an .873 match winning percentage (144-21) on the surface. More than one-third of Federer’s 144 career match wins have come in Halle where he is 51-5, winning eight titles in 2003-06, ’08 and ’13-15. Last year Federer defeated Andreas Seppi 76 64 in the final. He is 8-2 in Halle finals (l. to Hewitt in ’10, Haas in ’12). Federer has won his last 13 matches in Halle since falling in the 2012 final to Tommy Haas. Going into this season, Federer has won at least one grass-court title in 11 of the past 13 years (except 2010-11).

Kei Returns: No. 2 seed Nishikori is making his fourth straight showing in Halle and the last two years he reached the semi-finals (ret. vs. Seppi with calf injury). He has a 24-18 career record on grass. This season the Japanese star is 32-10 with his fourth straight title in Memphis and runner-up efforts at the ATP Masters 1000 Miami and Barcelona. He is coming off a fourth-round finish at Roland Garros (l. to Gasquet in four sets).

Thiem Top 10 Success: Thiem, who became the newest member in the Top 10 Emirates ATP Rankings on June 6 after his semi-final run at Roland Garros, is making his second visit to Halle (0-1). In Stuttgart, the 22-year-old Austrian beat World No. 3 Federer en route to his first grass-court final (vs. Kohlschreiber). Going into the final, Thiem has a 44-11 match record on the season with three ATP World Tour titles. The final was postponed to Monday dues to rain.

#NextGen in the Draw: The three #NextGen teenagers in the Top 100 Emirates ATP Rankings: Taylor Fritz (18), Borna Coric and Alexander Zverev (both 19), are in the main draw. The trio each have had personal breakthroughs this season by reaching their first ATP World Tour final. Coric was runner-up in Chennai and Marrakech, Fritz in Memphis and Zverev in Nice. Zverev is ranked a career-high No. 38 while Fritz is a personal-best No. 65. Coric is ranked No. 48 (after reaching a career-high No. 33 last July). Coric and Zverev both reached the second round last year while Fritz is making his Halle debut.  

Kohlschreiber on German Soil: No. 1 German Philipp Kohlschreiber has compiled his best career results on his home country soil with five of his seven ATP World Tour titles coming in Germany. He is playing in the Stuttgart final due to finish on Monday. Last month, he won the title in Munich. Kohlschreiber has a 27-10 match record in Halle, winning the title in 2011, reaching the final in 2008 and advancing to the semi-finals four other times (2007, ’09, ’12, ’14).

Berdych in Consistent Form: Berdych is putting together another consistent season on the ATP World Tour with a 23-11 match record. The 30-year-old Czech Republic native has advanced to the quarter-finals or better in seven of 10 tournaments. He is coming off a quarter-final at Roland Garros (l. to Djokovic). Berdych has compiled a 16-6 match record in Halle, reaching the quarter-finals or better five of his previous seven appearances. Last year he reached the quarter-finals (l. to Karlovic). He advanced to the final in his debut in 2006 (l. to Federer) and won the title in 2007 (d. Baghdatis).

Goffin Eyes Top 10: Top Belgian David Goffin, who is ranked a career-high No. 11 after reaching the quarter-finals at Roland Garros (l. to Thiem), is making his second appearance in Halle. Three years ago he lost in the 1R (l. to M. Zverev). This season Goffin has compiled a 26-11 match record, reaching back-to-back semi-finals at ATP Masters 1000 events in Indian Wells and Miami. He also advanced to four quarter-finals, including ATP Masters 1000 Rome.

New Faces: There are seven players making their main draw debut in Halle, including No. 6 seed David Ferrer. Other first-timers (not including qualifiers) are: Brian Baker, Malek Jaziri, Denis Kudla, Paolo Lorenzi, Lucas Pouille and Albert Ramos-Vinolas. The last player to win the title in his maiden appearance was Lleyton Hewitt in 2010.

Milestone Watch: Two players are trying to reach milestone match wins in Halle. Mike Bryan is one doubles match win away from reaching 1,000 in his career (999-304) while last year’s runner-up Andreas Seppi (299-319) is one singles away from 300 in his career.

MOST DOUBLES WINS IN OPEN ERA

Doubles Field: The top seeds in the doubles draw are Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan, who are making their Halle debut. They are coming off semi-final showing in Stuttgart (l. to Marach/F. Martin) and a runner-up at Roland Garros (l. to Lopez/Lopez). They are No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Team Rankings with three titles and a 29-10 record together. The No. 2 seeds are Lukasz Kubot and Alexander Peya, who reached the semi-finals at Roland Garros (l. to Bryans). The No. 3 seeds are Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram and the No. 4 seeds are Henri Kontinen and John Peers. Brothers Alexander and Mischa Zverev, who were finalists in Montpellier in February and in Munich last year, received a wild card.  

Stuttgart finalists Kohlschreiber and Thiem are playing together for the second straight week.

In Case You Missed It

Rain forced the postponement of the ‘s-Hertogenbosch (read report) and Stuttgart (read report) singles finals. Both matches are set to finish on Monday.

Andy Murray will rejoin forces with coach Ivan Lendl. Read

Jamie Murray received a prestigious award from the Queen of England. Read

Milos Raonic visited the Palace of Westminster. Watch

Roger Federer moved ahead of Lendl for second all-time in match wins. Read

Birthdays

16 June – Benjamin Becker (35)

17 June – Marcos Baghdatis (31)

18 June – Richard Gasquet (30)

Milestones

Halle Singles

–          Andreas Seppi: 299 wins

Halle Doubles

–          Mike Bryan: 999 wins

Nicolas Mahut was halfway to his third ‘s-Hertogenbosch title before rain postponed Sunday’s Ricoh Open final. The Frenchman won the first set against Gilles Muller 6-4. The opener had just concluded under ominous skies when play was suspended because of rain at about 6 p.m. local time. Officials later postponed the match until 10 a.m. local time on Monday.

Mahut will try to defend his 2015 title on the grass. He also claimed the title in the Netherlands in 2013. The 33-year-old Muller will go for his first ATP World Tour title, having lost his three prior finals.

Sunday’s final looked to be a serve-and-volley exhibition. Both players dominated with their serve throughout the week. Muller, No. 44 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, had held 98 per cent of the time (48/49). Mahut, No. 49 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, had won 96 per cent of his service games (52/54) before Sunday.

But both, especially Muller, struggled to find their serving groove. The Luxembourg native landed just 61 per cent of his first serves, down six percentage points from his Ricoh Open average. The left-hander also won only 25 per cent of his second-serve points (3/12) and was broken twice in the first set as Mahut struck deep returns throughout the set.

Mahut struggled with his serve early on as well, but the 34 year old settled his nerves and took the first set when Muller netted a backhand pass.

“Any match you lose is disappointing. But to lose when you have match point means it was a close one,” said Roger Federer in the wake of his three-set loss to Dominic Thiem in the semi-finals of the Mercedes Cup on Saturday. “We both had our chances throughout. After coming back from 0-5 in the second, it was tough to lose the tie-break.”

Federer won the first set 6-3 and mounted a furious comeback in the second set to force a tie-break. After Thiem saved a match point serving at 5/6, Federer had the match on his racquet at 7/6.

“At 7/6 in the tie-break, I’ve got an 80 per cent chance of winning the point on my first serve and a 50 per cent chance on my second serve, so things were all good for me at that point,” the Swiss noted. Thiem regained the momentum after Federer missed a volley, and went on to close out the match with a break of serve in the deciding set.

“It was a tough match for both of us,” Federer said. “I could have played better at some of the bigger moments. At the same time, Thiem came up with some really good shots when he needed them. It’s just unfortunate. It’s just a matter of working hard and maybe things will go my way next time.”

Federer also underlined the importance of additional match practice. He was making a return to play after missing Roland Garros due to a back injury. It was the Swiss’ second layoff of the year after undergoing knee surgery in January.

“Things went surprisingly well this week. Conditions were very fast, so that’s why you saw a lot of tie-breaks, lots of close matches,” Federer said. “I probably didn’t serve my very best and I need to cut down on some mistakes in my game, but that comes down to not playing a lot.

“I want to be in a position to talk more about my matches, rather than the way that I am training coming back from injury. I’m happy that it is in the past, and I am looking forward to the second half of the season.”

Federer is slated to take part in the Gerry Weber Open, which begins on Monday. He is an eight-time champion at the event and will face Jan-Lennard Struff in the first round.

Jamie Murray, No. 2 in the Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings, was awarded an OBE (Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for services to tennis and charity.

The 30-year-old Dunblane native has been at the top of his game in the past 12 months. The elder Murray teamed up with brother Andy Murray to help Great Britain claim the 2015 Davis Cup. In 2016, Murray secured the Australian Open title alongside Bruno Soares and reached No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings for the first time.

Murray will next take to the court at the Aegon Championships at Queen’s Club, where he is slated to play doubles with Soares.

Tecnifibre has launched its second “Young Guns on the Road Contest.” The 2016 edition of the competition pits four young champions against one another on the court and through social media. At stake? $50,000.

That’s no small change, especially for a young player starting on the pro circuit. “$50,000 – that almost covers a whole season,” said Gregoire Barrere, a 22-year-old Frenchman ranked No. 229 in the Emirates ATP Rankings.

Barrere is one of the four “Young Guns” picked by Tecnifibre from among the team of players under contract with the tennis equipment manufacturer to participate in the contest.

The other three players featured will be 22-year-old American Mitchell Krueger, ranked No. 260; 19-year-old Australian Omar Jasika, No. 235 in the Emirates ATP Rankings; and 20-year-old Russian Daniil Medvedev, ranked No. 256.

“You can do a lot with that much money: Hire a physio for a few weeks, add someone else to your team…” said Medvedev. “That money would be a huge help this early in my career.”

The winning player will have to show an unrivalled ability to engage and galvanize their fans on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Through tennis, obviously, but that’s not all: These four young men have much more to say to the world.

The winner’s cheque will be presented at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London in November.