Two 14-match win streaks clashed in the final in Zadar as Borna Coric and Valentin Royer battled for the title. Meanwhile Thiago Monteiro was the bridesmaid for the second week in a row in South America, whereas Carlos Taberner showed some incredible tenacity and stamina to deliver in front of the home crowd in Murcia. Read on for a look back at last week’s action on the Challenger Tour.
Challenger Tour Weekly Recap
Asuncion
Having lost to Daniel Elahi Galan in the Santiago final, Monteiro was once again the top seed in Asuncion and had to battle through some fatigue. Remy Bertola took a set against him 6-0 but still lost, while against Mariano Kestelboim the Brazilian almost got himself in major trouble when he didn’t convert two match points in the second set. Despite never really hitting his peak level, Monteiro kept fighting to make his second consecutive final with a win over his compatriot Matheus Pucinelli de Almeida.
Emilio Nava has been playing almost non-stop in South America with a couple of semifinal appearances that both ended at the hands of Galan. For a while the American was heading for another clash with the same opponent, first turning around another 2025 0-2 head-to-head against Juan Pablo Varillas. But Galan was eliminated by hometown hero Adolfo Daniel Vallejo, who Nava then defeated comfortably to make his first final since August 2023.
Nava’s not known for his tactical awareness, but throughout the week he was looking a bit more comfortable turning defense into offense and playing with more margin. That continued in the final and along with perfect serving, it allowed him to gain an early advantage. Monteiro had his only shot to keep it close when he led early in the second set, but he soon went down with a thigh issue. Nava claimed his third Challenger Tour title 7-5 6-3 and is close to returning to the top 200 as both finalists are also in the draw for Concepcion.
Merida
Usually a master of altitude courts, Juan Pablo Ficovich also does well at the rare sea-level event in Mexico with back-to-back finals. Having lost to Tristan Boyer in the 2024 championship match, the recent Cordoba runner-up didn’t drop a set on the way to backing up his achievement from last year. Back then Murkel Dellien was his semifinal opponent, this time it was the brother Hugo whom he took out in a massive 6-3 5-7 7-5 battle.
Felipe Meligeni Alves hadn’t competed since qualifying for the ATP 250 in Santiago a few weeks earlier. The Brazilian had a pretty comfortable draw in the first two rounds before impressing in a crushing 6-1 6-0 defeat of Juan Carlos Prado Angelo. One of the biggest names in the field was former world #17 Cristian Garin, but he also couldn’t handle the game of Meligeni Alves with the 27-year-old beginning to dominate after briefly going a set and a break down.
It was an up-and-down final with especially the level of Meligeni Alves fluctuating as he tried to stay on top of the baseline patterns. But when the powerful forehand of the Brazilian got going, it was tough for Ficovich to compete. The more aggressive player was able to prevail in the end as Meligeni Alves claimed his fourth Challenger Tour title (first since June 2023) 6-2 1-6 6-2. Both finalists will stay in Mexico, switching to the altitude hard courts in Morelia.
Murcia
Taberner made a semifinal in Punta del Este in February, but didn’t achieve much success in the recent altitude clay double in Kigali. Conditions in Murcia were so much more to his liking as the Spaniard produced a great win over top-seeded Marton Fucsovics in the quarterfinals. That affair lasted 3 hours and 36 minutes, which didn’t stop Taberner from taking another marathon against Kimmer Coppejans in the semifinals (2 hours and 44 minutes after looking exhausted in the 2-6 opening set).
Jesper de Jong was similarly poor in Kigali, not coming close to breaking the top 100 despite only being a few spots away. But the Dutchman was also quick to show that in sea-level conditions he’s still a force. Despite a tough opening draw in Andrea Pellegrino, he handled the Italian comfortably and survived a thriller against Valentin Vacherot 6-3 3-6 7-5. A walkover from Harold Mayot got him into the semifinals and he promptly took advantage with a win over Ivan Gakhov.
Taberner looked much fresher than on Saturday despite over 11 hours spent on the court throughout the week. He made it hard for de Jong to wrap up points and while there was a small crisis in the middle of the second set, for the decider he came up with new energy and even began playing more proactively. That eventually led him to a 7-6(3) 4-6 6-2 win and his eighth Challenger title with at least one in each of the last six seasons (2020-25). Both finalists are expected in Girona next week with de Jong still a win or two away from securing his top 100 debut.
Zadar
Coric took a month off after Montpellier in late January and returned in superb form. The Croat didn’t even drop serve on the way to the title in Lugano, before backing it up in Thionville the week after with just one set lost against Alibek Kachmazov. Now it was time to switch to clay and while the transition wasn’t 100% smooth at first, Coric quickly began dominating to make another final with four straight-set wins. By Sunday, he was on 14 consecutive match victories.
When Coric was winning Lugano and Thionville, Royer dominated the Kigali double and also picked up two Challenger Tour titles. Unlike the Croat, he didn’t need to switch surfaces before going to Zadar. It’s not like the conditions were all that similar with no altitude, although both events tend to get quite windy. And just like Coric, Royer extended his win streak to 14 by the time he made the final. Toughest match was his opener against Adrian Andreev with the Bulgarian leading him by a break in the deciding set.
Zadar tends to be extremely windy with its location on the Adriatic Sea. The final was played on the worst day of the week in this regard and the match became a bit of a survival battle for the two players. After a few short rain delays as well, Coric started emerging as the one to handle it better, pushing through the wind with some strong backhands down-the-line and nasty dropshots. The Croatian picked up his sixth Challenger title 3-6 6-2 6-3 and is the first player to win 3 trophies at this level in 2025. He’s also on the verge of returning to the top 100 and will try to get there in Naples. Meanwhile, Royer chose to withdraw from Girona this week.
Events held this week:
- Morelia Open (Challenger 125, hard)
- Napoli Tennis Cup (Naples, Challenger 125, clay)
- Eurofirms Girona – Costa Brava (Challenger 100, clay)
- Dove Men+Care Concepcion (Challenger 75, clay)
Top 100 players in action:
- James Duckworth (Morelia)
- Luciano Darderi, Raphael Collignon, Francesco Passaro, Thiago Seyboth Wild, Fabio Fognini (Naples)
- Marton Fucsovics, Alexander Shevchenko (Girona)
- Thiago Monteiro (Concepcion)
First-round matches to watch:
Morelia
- (3) Brandon Holt vs Marc-Andrea Huesler
- Constant Lestienne vs (2) Christopher Eubanks
Naples
- (5) Fabio Fognini vs Gauthier Onclin
- Vit Kopriva vs (2) Raphael Collignon
Girona
- Marin Cilic vs Carlos Taberner
- (7) Federico Coria vs Elmer Moller
Concepcion
- Gonzalo Bueno vs (WC) Diego Dedura-Palomero
- Joao Lucas Reis da Silva vs (4) Tomas Barrios Vera
Main photo credit: David Kirouac-USA TODAY Sports
