NextGen Chilean Triumphs In Quito

  • Posted: Sep 04, 2017

NextGen Chilean Triumphs In Quito

Sep042017

Revisit the week that was on the ATP Challenger Tour as we applaud the achievements of those on the rise and look ahead to who’s in action in the week to come

A LOOK BACK

Challenger de Quito (Quito, Ecuador): Chilean Nicolas Jarry collected his second ATP Challenger Tour title of the season, his second on South American soil after earlier winning the title in Medellin, Colombia. The 21-year-old #NextGen ATP player disposed of fifth seed Gerald Melzer 6-3, 6-2 to claim the title, having earlier fought back from a set and a break down to oust top seed Victor Estrella Burgos in the semi-finals. Photographer Jorge Anhalzer’s framed scenic photograph depicting Quito and Ecuardor from the sky was a trophy with a difference for the champion. It improved his record to 13-2 in Challengers since qualifying for his first Wimbledon in July and continues a meteoric rise up the Emirates ATP Rankings. He was outside the Top 200 in early June and is projected to climb to a career-high spot in the Top 120.

Torneo Citta di Como (Como, Italy): Pedro Sousa certainly wasn’t taking the easy route to his third straight ATP Challenger Tour final. The Portuguese World No. 127 rallied from a set down in three of his five matches in Como, including a 1-6, 6-2, 6-4 triumph over home hope and top seed Marco Cecchinato in the final. The win marked his third title of the season having also won in Francavilla, Italy and Liberec, Czech Republic. His third final in a row takes him to a 10-match winning streak and a 14-1 match record since mid-July. Sousa is fast closing on a Top 100 debut.

 A LOOK AHEAD

Five Challenger events will take place this week, headed by the $150,000 Aon Open Challenger in Genova, Italy. The clay-court event, held since 2003, last year saw Jerzy Janowicz defeat defending champion Nicolas Almagro for the title. The honour roll of prior champions features a host of top ATP World Tour players – Albert Ramos Vinolas, Dustin Brown, Albert Montanes, Martin Klizan and Fabio Fognini. German World No. 49 Jan-Lennard Struff heads the field with two further players in the Top 60 entered – Czech Jiri Vesely and Argentine Argentine Delbonis. #NextGenATP home hope Matteo Berrettini will join former Top 20 compatriot Andreas Seppi in the draw.

Former World No. 9 Almagro will play on home soil this week as top seed at the $75,000 Copa Sevilla in Spain. Defending champion and #NextGenATP Norwegian Casper Ruud is seeded third. Spaniard Robert Carbelles Baena will look to continue his hot streak as the No. 2 seed. The 24 year old claimed his second Challenger title in four week in late August, prevailing in Manerbio, Italy. #NextGenATP Spaniard and Boys’ Singles champion at Wimbledon, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, is also entered and will look for inspiration to current World No. 1 Rafael Nadal, who picked up his first ATP points at the Copa Sevilla as a 15 year old.

Dominican veteran Victor Estrella Burgos will look to claim his eighth Challenger title when he starts as top seed at the $50,000 Milo Open in Bogota, Colombia this week. The 37 year old leads the seedings ahead of former World No. 28 and home hope Santiago Giraldo and #NextGenATP Austrian Sebastian Ofner. Sunday’s Challenger de Quito champion Nicolas Jarry is seeded fourth.

Another Challenger champion from Sunday, Pedro Sousa, will look to go back-to-back when he begins the $50,000 Tean International Challenger at Alphen, in the Netherlands. The Portuguese is seeded second behind Argentine former World No. 37 Carlos Berlocq for the claycourt event, which has been held since 1996.

Swiss World No. 94 Henri Laaksonen and Japan’s former World No. 47 Go Soeda are the top two seeds for the $50,000 International Challenger Zhangjiagang, in China. #NextGenATP South Korean Duckhee Lee will also contest the inaugural hard-court tournament.

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