Arthur Bouquier coming out of nowhere to win the Lille title was a beautiful story, but unfortunately, it also ended in Lucas Pouille suffering an injury that will make him have to go through surgery again. The Golden Swing really kicked off with a stacked field in Rosario, while Pablo Carreno Busta claimed his first Challenger Tour title since 2015. Read up on last week’s action:
Challenger Tour Weekly Recap
Lille
Arthur Bouquier had only one Challenger main draw win before this week (Rennes last September) but was suddenly on it from the very first day of the event in Lille. On his way to the final, he posted the three biggest wins of his career – World No. 212 Calvin Hemery, No. 210 Matteo Martineau, and No. 62 Benjamin Bonzi. Despite looking pretty beat up with these efforts, he kept being very clutch on serve and coming up with incredible shotmaking – tweeners, left-handed shots, passes, droppers – you name it.
When Lucas Pouille was 5-7 0-3 down to Clement Chidekh in the opening round and had to save seven break points that game, not many would have expected him to be in the final either. But the veteran completely out-clutched his younger compatriot in that encounter before showing some incredible attacking tennis later in the week against Alexander Blockx or Hugo Grenier. Another scrap was required from him in the semifinals as he fought back from a set down against Valentin Royer.
In the opening set, Pouille was more in that error machine mode, but Bouquier handled the occasion extremely well. It wasn’t until the first break at 4-3 in the second set that the veteran finally seemed to have found something and was getting closer to taking a set. Unfortunately, at 5-3 deuce on serve Pouille fell and ruptured his Achilles tendon, which ended the match as he was taken off the court in a wheelchair. Bouquier claimed the title 6-3 3-5 AD-40 RET and will jump about 170 spots in the ATP Rankings, more than doubling his point tally. His next event will likely be Pau in a couple of weeks, while Pouille needs to undergo surgery on his right leg.
Rosario
Hugo Dellien ran out of steam in the Piracicaba semifinals against Facundo Mena the week before Rosario. He needed to improve quickly to be ready for the quality of this draw. After outlasting Chun-Hsin Tseng from 4-6 0-2 down, he posted very impressive wins over World No. 105 Sumit Nagal, World No. 87 Francisco Comesana, and then eventually No. 31 Sebastian Baez. In that last encounter, he didn’t get discouraged after dropping the second set tie-break 13-15 and missing four match points.
Camilo Ugo Carabelli retired down a set to Roman Andres Burruchaga in the Piracicaba quarterfinals, but his run in Rosario was one big test of fitness. The Argentinian went to the deciding set in every match on the way to the final, starting from the penultimate appearance of Diego Schwartzman’s career. He was never close to losing, but most of the matches were far from comfortable. Ugo Carabelli stopped the Dellien brothers from meeting in the final by beating Murkel Dellien in the semifinals.
Dellien opened the match with a very aggressive attitude, dictating with the forehand and even going after his usually non-threatening backhand down the line. But Ugo Carabelli had none of it, and despite looking like he was pretty low on steam, the Argentinian started dragging his opponent into a physical war. It took a while, but Ugo Carabelli took his 8th Challenger title 3-6 6-3 6-2 and will now play the ATP 250 in Buenos Aires. Due to his Rosario run, Dellien had to miss out on qualifying for that event and will return in Rio de Janeiro.
Chennai
Elias Ymer waited to start his season until this event, and it seems to have brought some renewed energy. He took a blockbuster opening round against Duje Ajdukovic in three sets and maintained that level throughout the week, which was really tough for him most of 2024. The Swede defeated Jay Clarke and Rio Noguchi before eliminating the top seed, Billy Harris, in a couple of tie-breaks. On hard courts, this was his first final since Pune back in 2018.
Kyrian Jacquet was only playing his second event of the season in Chennai after qualifying and losing to Laslo Djere in Quimper in the second round. The Frenchman was able to take advantage of Alexis Galarneau arriving in India fatigued after a long Davis Cup journey from Canada before hitting a nice passing shot match point down to Shintaro Mochizuki. After that, all he needed to do was defeat Dalibor Svrcina, which he did pretty comfortably to make his first final since Salzburg in July.
The slow courts in Chennai didn’t suit Ymer too well in this particular matchup, with Jacquet enjoying sitting back and turning defense into offense. In the opening set tie-break, the Frenchman lost only one point through a double fault. With the lack of free points coming in from his serve or attacking combinations for Ymer, it was Jacquet who claimed his 2nd Challenger title 7-6(1) 6-4. He will find himself close to the Top 100 again as both players stay in India for the event in New Delhi.
Brisbane
Adam Walton lost to Tristan Schoolkate in the semifinals of the first event in Brisbane, but with his track record in Challengers and a Top 100 ranking, not getting a title in either week would have been disappointing. It still takes a pretty special performance for somebody to take him out due to his consistency, and no one was able to come close on the way to the Brisbane-2 final. The Australian never lost more than four games in a set and only conceded his serve once.
Jason Kubler suffered a disappointing exit to Bernard Tomic in the first Brisbane event, going down in a physical clash that lasted three hours. Drawing last week’s champion, Tristan Schoolkate, seemed like a real issue, but Kubler was able to take out a dangerous opponent in three sets. His draw cleared up after that, and he was able to make it to his first final since June 2023 in Ilkley after missing most of last season with an injury and only coming back in November.
Kubler was the first player with the quality to trouble Walton all week, earning small leads in both sets and both tie-breaks. But the aggression would always eventually run out, with the top seed serving well under pressure and just being a bit too sharp off the ground. Walton took his 4th Challenger title 7-6(6) 7-6(4) and defended his points for winning Burnie-2 this time last year. He has a short turnaround before playing in Delray Beach, while Kubler stays in Australia to play M25 events in Burnie and Launceston after a week of rest.
Tenerife
Pablo Carreno Busta started the year with a few main tour appearances where it felt like his level was better than the results. It took until the Spaniard’s first Challenger of the season to combine quality and wins, although Vilius Gaubas took him to a deciding set tie-break in the quarterfinals. The veteran made it to his first Challenger final in almost 10 years, posting an 11-1 record in championship matches at this level in 2011-15 (he won the first 11 before losing to Pedro Cachin at 2015 Seville).
Alejandro Moro Canas retired with a left ankle injury in qualifying for the ATP 250 in Montpellier the week before Tenerife. Expectations probably weren’t too high ahead of this event, but he got through a messy opener against Denis Yevseyev and was able to excel on the slow and bouncy hard courts. In the semifinals, he led Henrique Rocha by a set and a double break before getting pegged back, but he went on to bagel his opponent in the deciding set.
Just like against everyone else besides Gaubas, Carreno Busta was just a class above in the final. He played an intelligent attacking game, and a grinder like Moro Canas was left with few avenues to look for an advantage. Carreno Busta faced just three break points (all in the match’s opening game) as he claimed his 12th Challenger title 6-3 6-2. Both players will also feature in the second event in Tenerife.
Challenger Tour magic:
I thought this blockbuster deserved it, so here’s a quick highlight reel of Pouille vs Blockx. Enjoy!
📷: @ATPChallenger pic.twitter.com/DTDNS94cMz— Damian Kust (@damiankust) February 7, 2025
As I mentioned earlier this week, Bouquier in Lille can hit just about any shot known to humans
📷: @ATPChallenger pic.twitter.com/wqaQtTHnY5— Damian Kust (@damiankust) February 9, 2025
Carreño Busta not slowing down, literally
📷: @ATPChallenger pic.twitter.com/xckkZUROOs— Damian Kust (@damiankust) February 9, 2025
Events held this week:
- Bahrain Ministry of Interior Tennis Challenger (Manama, Challenger 125, hard)
- Delhi Open (New Delhi, Challenger 75, hard)
- Tenerife Challenger 2 (Challenger 75, hard)
Marton Fucsovics (Manama) will be the only Top 100 player in action.
First-round matches to watch:
Manama
- (3) Jesper de Jong vs Aslan Karatsev
- Daniel Evans vs (WC) Benoit Paire
New Delhi
- August Holmgren vs (6) Shintaro Mochizuki
- (5) Elmer Moller vs (SE) Elias Ymer
Tenerife
- (ALT) Daniel Rincon vs Mees Rottgering
- Jan Choinski vs (2) Emil Ruusuvuori
It’s a Challenger main draw debut for Rottgering, who reached the final at the 2024 Wimbledon juniors event.
Main Photo Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea – USA TODAY Sports
