Cleveland Challenger: Springboard For American Stars

If you’re looking for players who can add to the next generation of top-level American tennis talent, chances are you can find them competing at this week’s Cleveland Challenger.

The indoor hard court event has been a stepping stone for Americans such as Sebastian Korda, Jenson Brooksby (‘21 Cleveland finalist), J.J. Wolf, Brandon Nakashima, Maxime Cressy (‘19 Cleveland champion) and Marcos Giron. All six of those men are currently Top-60 players.

The Cleveland Open has also earned visits from Miomir Kecmanovic, Yoshihito Nishioka, and 2022 Next Gen ATP Finals participant Dominic Stricker, who triumphed at last year’s edition.

“We’ve had an exceptional alumni base that we’ve built in only four years,” tournament director Alex Guthrie said. “We had 17 players in the main draw of the Australian Open [that have been to the Cleveland Challenger in years prior]. It’s really cool that the community of Cleveland can get behind this event because it’s been a pipeline to get players on the ATP Tour and become Top 50 or even higher. It’s cool to see the transition, they come through Cleveland and soon enough they are cracking on the ATP Tour as a regular customer.”

This week, the Challenger 75 event held at the Cleveland Racquet Club is hosting American youngsters such as Zachary Svajda and Alex Michelsen, who upset fourth seed Jack Sock in the opening round. Svajda, 20, won his maiden Challenger title this past year in Tiburon. Several former college standouts like Brandon Holt and Aleksandar Kovacevic are also in action in Ohio as Top-8 seeds.

The Cleveland Challenger is the latest example of the game’s future stars competing in an intimate setting before rising to the biggest stages in the sport.

“The importance of the ATP Challenger Tour is being a breeding ground for future success,” Guthrie said. “All these players have either been to the top levels of the game or they’re going to be there. This is an important moment in their tennis careers to get matches in and build confidence.”

As players seek to develop their skills and gain valuable experience while collecting prize money and ranking points on the Challenger Tour, now is the time that tennis fans tune in to watch the stars of tomorrow take flight.