Two Challenger 50 events were held during the week of US Open qualifying. Juan Bautista Torres came back to the winners’ circle after two years, while Yibing Wu was unbeatable in Jinan despite only playing in his second event of the season. Read up on last week’s action:
Challenger Tour Weekly Recap
Dobrich
Ivan Gakhov was on top of the world in 2023, picking up two Challenger titles and playing a great match against Novak Djokovic in Monte Carlo. But a tougher campaign this year saw the Russian fall out of the Top 300 without any semifinal to his name. Dobrich was the right opportunity to pick up some confidence and that’s exactly what Gakhov did, defeating Valerio Aboian and Petr Nesterov from a set down. By the semifinals, he was really trusting his shots again as he dispatched Haby Habib.
Juan Bautista Torres won another Challenger 50 in Troyes over two years ago and has been stuck at that Challenger/ITF crossroads pretty much since with his best results of this year also coming in the 50 category (during that May/June stretch in South America). In Dobrich, the 22-year-old was pushed by local favorite Alexander Donski in the second round before beating Arthur Gea from 1-3 down in the decider to make his first Challenger Tour final in 25 months.
Gakhov had the stronger level in patches in the opening set, dominating with heavy, confident ball-striking. It’s tough to explain what happened to him right after though with eight games in a row, many of which he wasn’t even in the right mindset to fight for. From 2-4 down in the 3rd he unexpectedly got another opportunity, but wasn’t able to create a match point at 5-4 30-0 on return. Torres claimed his 2nd Challenger title 5-7 6-0 7-5 and returns to the Top 300 at World No. 299 (Gakhov will be No. 298). The runner-up will play Porto this week, while the champion’s plans remain unclear.
Jinan
Yibing Wu has been continuously hampered by injuries in his young career, the latest of them only allowing him to play one event in 2024 before Jinan (Houston in April). The Chinese had been gearing up for this run and while it wasn’t easy to shake off the rust, quality-wise he was leagues ahead of the field. Against Stefanos Sakellaridis and Keegan Smith he fought back from a set down, Tung-Lin Wu he defeated in straights despite being 0-4 down in the opener.
Since making the semifinals in Nonthaburi at the start of the season, Rio Noguchi hadn’t been past the second round at a Challenger. The Japanese was seeded fifth in Jinan and was in solid form right off the bat, dispatching a tough opponent in Aidan McHugh in the second round in straight sets. The key win came in the semifinals as he battled top-seeded Yuta Shimizu, coming back from 2-4 in the deciding set to make his second Challenger final after 2022 Playford.
The final was pretty similar to how Wu’s matches were progressing the whole week. The Chinese had patches of unplayable shotmaking, but it wasn’t always easy to keep the error count in check. At least this time he avoided the slow start and didn’t get broken until serving for the win. He still picked up his 5th Challenger Tour title 7-5 6-3, triumphing in only his 2nd event of the season. Both finalists will be in Zhangjiagang this week, the champion receiving a wildcard.
Events held this week:
- Challenger Citta’ di Como (Challenger 75, clay)
- Rafa Nadal Open by Movistar (Manacor, Challenger 75, hard)
- Clube Tenis Porto Challenger (Challenger 75, clay)
- Zhangjiagang International Challenger (Challenger 75, hard)
Top 100 players in action:
- Damir Dzumhur, Yannick Hanfmann (Manacor)
First-round matches to watch:
Como
- (PR) Kei Nishikori vs Samuel Vincent Ruggeri
- (4) Francesco Passaro vs Filip Jeff Planinsek
Manacor
- Marc-Andrea Huesler vs (WC) Marin Cilic
- (WC) Martin Landaluce vs (5) Duje Ajdukovic
Porto
- (1) Oriol Roca Batalla vs Jonas Forejtek
- Lorenzo Giustino vs (2/WC) Jaime Faria
Zhangjiagang
- (ALT) Philip Henning vs (7) Mark Lajal
- Yuta Shimizu vs (4) Yasutaka Uchiyama
Main Photo Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea – USA TODAY Sports
