It has been a banner year for the Australian contingent on the ATP Challenger Tour. Never before has the proud tennis nation experienced such an impressive run of domination.

In 2016, five different Aussies lifted trophies. The same happened last year. But, thus far in 2018, they have made a strong statement with a total of 12 different players celebrating titles. From surging teen Alex de Minaur to 30-year-old veteran Matthew Ebden, a dozen players have put their stamp on the Challenger campaign. In fact, 10 of the 11 Aussies in the Top 200 of the ATP Rankings have reigned on the circuit this year. 

Many comeback stories have captured imaginations and grabbed headlines, as a bevy of Aussies have returned to the winners’ circle in their return from surgeries. The tales of John Millman, Jason Kubler and Thanasi Kokkinakis have been well-documented, but that of James Duckworth has flown under the radar.

Hard work both on and off the court has paid dividends for this comeback quartet and Duckworth is no exception. At the age of 26, the Sydney native knows this all too well. When the body fails, perseverance prevails.

Not one or two, but FIVE surgeries later, Duckworth is not only on the mend, but thriving once again. A former Top 100 stalwart, he is coming off his first title in two years after prevailing at the Atlantic Tire Championships in Cary, North Carolina on Sunday.

Duckworth’s story is truly one of unyielding determination. Where many would acquiesce to defeat after undergoing three foot surgeries, as well as shoulder and elbow operations – all in the span of 13 months – the Aussie refused to stop believing that he could resurrect his career. 

What began as a right foot stress fracture in early 2017, resulted in a significant operation to insert two pins in the bone. Duckworth would only play in one tournament that season, suffering a first-round defeat at the Australian Open.

“It took a long time to heal, since there is not a great blood supply to that part of the body,” Duckworth told ATPWorldTour.com. “It was a really frustrating process.”

As the 2018 season started, Duckworth was still experiencing pain and discomfort while competing in Brisbane and Melbourne. Weeks later, he would go under the knife twice more, to remove bone spurs in both his foot and right elbow. 

“In January, my elbow started getting sore after the Aussie summer when I started to play again. I had a scan and they said I was developing some bone spurs, which needed to be taken out. They were impinging me whenever I would extend for a serve or slice backhand. 

“And the foot still wasn’t right when I played Brisbane and the Aussie Open. I knew it needed to be done after that. I didn’t start feeling good physically until two months ago, with no injury worries. Fingers crossed I can maintain my health for an extended period of time.”

The long and arduous process, which included rigourous rehab, made the 26-year-old question whether he would ever return to the court and compete at his top level again.

“It was my third foot surgery. There were quite a few times that I thought I would never run and jump pain-free again. It’s pretty rough to play tennis without doing those two things. There were big doubts, especially after this last one. 

“I went through the progression with all my rehab and got through the strength and power, which gave me confidence. Now it’s been pretty good. I started to feel pain free six to eight weeks after and I started to trust the movement more in practice, but it wasn’t until I played quite a few matches that I wouldn’t think about it on court.

“You see guys like Jason [Kubler] and John [Millman] doing well and it’s inspiring. I actually speak to an AFL (Australian Football League) player, who plays for the Brisbane Lions. He had the same foot surgery as me. I had a few chats with him and he was really helpful with some ideas. Just setting little goals was important, to get you through it.”

Pumped to have come away with a win at the end of a long week atlantictirechampionships. Thank you everyone for all the messages of support! @ Cary Tennis Park https://t.co/FVWcuQyBK4

— James Duckworth (@JamesDuck21) September 20, 2018

Duckworth not only survived eight matches as a qualifier in Cary, but overcame torrential rain and rapidly changing conditions thanks to Hurricane Florence.

The devastating hurricane was responsible for widespread flooding, power outages and more than 40 deaths, but fortunately spared the Cary Tennis Park. However, the threat of the storm was enough to force a rare mid-tournament schedule change, which saw play cancelled on Friday and the quarter-finals played the day before. Play was then moved indoors for the weekend.

“The hurricane didn’t really affect us,” Duckworth added. “We were a few hours inland in Cary. It was raining constantly but that’s about it. It was more on the coast where people were impacted. I started hearing about the hurricane on Monday, during my last round of qualies. I didn’t really think about it too much, but then people started talking about it more. It ended up being six matches in a row before I had that day off. I was just playing decent tennis and was able to get through it in the end.”

Great stuff @JamesDuck21 winning the #Cary @ATPChallenger event. Hard work and persistence pays off! ?? pic.twitter.com/nLO6Udi9Xr

— Lleyton Hewitt (@lleytonhewitt) September 17, 2018

After entering the tournament with seven wins to his name this year, Duckworth more than doubled that in one week. He would rally from a set down in both the final round of qualifying and the first round of the main draw, before reeling off 10 sets in a row to lift the trophy. A convincing 7-6(4), 6-3 victory over big-serving #NextGenATP American Reilly Opelka secured the title. 

“It was really nice. It was actually the first Challenger I played since November 2016. To come through qualies and win eight matches was pretty big for me. I don’t think I’ve ever won eight matches in a week before. It was a really good feeling and I’m happy to have won. I got some important ATP Ranking points, so hopefully I don’t have to play too many more Challenger qualies.

“I served really well. The conditions, both outdoors and indoors, were good serving conditions. I was able to hold serve pretty confidently. I think that was the key, especially in the final against Riley. If you get broken, the set is pretty much over against him.”

Australian Challenger Winners In 2018

Foot surgery can always be tricky to recover from, both physically and mentally. Tennis players rely on their footwork and movement as much as any athlete. But for Duckworth, it did not take long to find his agility. He says that everything came together during the U.S. hard-court summer, starting with a third-round appearance at the Citi Open and culminating with a gritty four-set defeat to Andy Murray at the US Open.

“I lost a close three-set match to Ryan Harrison in Atlanta and then I had the great result in Washington. I was even more comfortable at the US Open. I played a four-set match with Murray and it was nearly 4.5 hours. Against a quality player, that one gave me confidence. It was a pretty good match and I’m happy with how I went out there and competed. How I was able to last physically after such a long time away. And then of course winning quite a few matches last week in Cary was big. It all snowballed a bit and the combination of those things definitely helped.”

Now, up to No. 289 in the ATP Rankings thanks to his sixth ATP Challenger Tour title, Duckworth is surging towards a Top 100 return. Having resided outside the Top 1000 just four months ago, every win is progress.

“I have no goals, other than to stay healthy. If that happens, I know the results will take care of itself. I know what I’m capable of.”

Roman Jebavy and Matwe Middelkoop lifted their first ATP World Tour trophy as a team at last year’s St. Petersburg Open. And one year later at the same event, the pair is one victory away from retaining that crown. 

Third-seeded Jebavy and Middelkoop battled past second seeds Julio Peralta and Horacio Zeballos 7-6(4), 1-6, 10-8 on Friday in a rematch of the 2017 championship match, advancing to the final after 76 minutes. Last season, the clash was far more straightforward, with the victors triumphing in straight sets.

But this time around, the Czech-Dutch duo won 12 fewer points than its opponents. However, Jebavy and Middelkoop landed eight of their nine first serves in the Match Tie-break to pressure the Chilean-Argentine team, winning five of the last six points to clinch the victory. Jebavy and Middelkoop will next face Max Mirnyi/Philipp Oswald or Matteo Berrettini/Fabio Fognini, who compete Saturday. 

Mirnyi and Oswald, who earned titles in New York and Houston earlier this year, beat home favourites Evgeny Donskoy and Karen Khachanov 7-6(2), 7-6(1) on Friday to reach the last four.

Skupski/Skupski Into Metz Final
Brothers Ken Skupski and Neal Skupski, who triumphed in Montpellier in France earlier this year, have a chance to lift another tour-level trophy in France. The Brits, who are the fourth seeds, beat Austrians Oliver Marach and Jurgen Melzer 4-6, 6-3, 10-5 in 77 minutes. 

In the final, they will clash against top seeds Nicolas Mahut and Edouard Roger-Vasselin or third seeds Wesley Koolhof and Andres Molteni.

Kei Nishikori continued his climb back toward the Top 10 of the ATP Rankings on Friday, battling past fifth-seeded Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 to reach the semi-finals of the Moselle Open. 

“It was a tough, tough match today, but somehow I fought through and I’m happy to be in the semi-finals tomorrow,” Nishikori said. “He was playing better in the second [set]. I thought I played almost perfect game in the first set and I almost had it, but he came back. It was tough. He was up 3-1 in the third, and I had to refocus again and rebuild my confidence and had to play a little bit better in the end. It wasn’t an easy game.”

The Japanese star dropped as low as World No. 39 in April and was No. 28 as recently as July. But since, the 28-year-old has found form reminiscent of his days inside the Top 5. Nishikori, who advanced to the US Open semi-finals, is now just two wins from lifting his first ATP World Tour trophy since 2016 Memphis. He is currently in 10th position in the ATP Race To London for a place at the Nitto ATP Finals, to be held at The O2 in London from 11-18 November.

The top seed faced a stiff test against the free-swinging Basilashvili, who advanced to the fourth round at Flushing Meadows (l. to Nadal) and claimed his maiden tour-level title in Hamburg. But the 28-year-old won 83 per cent of first-serve points and won five of eight break points to reach the last four, where he will face qualifier Matthias Bachinger, who beat German Yannick Maden 6-3, 2-6, 6-4.

Bachinger arrived in Metz with just one tour-level match win in 2018. But not only did he reach his first ATP World Tour quarter-final since 2014 in Stockholm, the German can now advance to his first tour-level final.

Two-time former champion Gilles Simon broke an eight-match losing streak against Richard Gasquet, the fourth seed and 2004 finalist, with a 7-6(4), 6-2 victory over one hour and 34 minutes. The pair first clashed in June 2006 at Nottingham (Gasquet leads Simon 8-1).

Simon had come into the event having lost five of his past six matches, but with victory over Gasquet, the 33-year-old is one win away from his 21st ATP World Tour final (13-7 record). He won the Tata Open Maharashtra crown (d. Anderson) in the first week of the year, and also finished runner-up at the Open Parc Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Lyon (l. to Thiem) in May. 

Moldova’s Radu Albot advanced to his first ATP World Tour semi-final, where he will challenge 2010 and 2013 Metz titlist Simon, after beating Ricardas Berankis of Lithuania 7-6(4), 6-4 in one hour and 42 minutes. 

Did You Know?
On nine occasions in the past 15 years, a Frenchman has won the Metz title.

Slovakian Martin Klizan, the 2012 champion, recovered from a set and 3-5 down to knock out seventh-seeded Canadian Denis Shapovalov 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 in two hours and four minutes on Friday at the St. Petersburg Open.

Klizan, who beat second seed Fabio Fognini in the second round, is playing in his first ATP World Tour tournament since lifting his sixth crown at the Generali Open in Kitzbuhel (d. Istomin) on 4 August. The 29-year-old has a perfect 6-0 record in tour-level finals and now awaits the winner of sixth seed and defending champion Damir Dzumhur and former World No. 3 Stan Wawrinka.