Moez Echargui followed the footsteps of Malek Jaziri and became Tunisia’s second ATP Challenger Tour champion. Meanwhile, 18-year-old Nicolai Budkov Kjaer switched surfaces but still picked up two titles in as many weeks. Yannick Hanfmann picked up his first Challenger title since 2020 and Zachary Svajda is still in the form of his life. Read up on last week’s action:
Porto
Francesco Maestrelli has been enjoying a resurgence this year with Challenger titles in Francavilla al Mare and Brasov. But the Italian did 99% of that work on clay with his hard-court record for the year standing at 3-3 before Porto. World No. 1257 Tiago Torres served for the win against him in the opening round with Maestrelli receiving a second life in the event. As it turned out, that was the last set he lost on the way to the final, defeating 2024 runner-up Alejandro Moro Canas in the final four.
Moez Echargui had recently gone on a rampage on the ITF level, producing a 17-match win streak in June. His Challenger record was nowhere near as good with a couple of second-round exits being his best results in 6 events in 2025. Everything changed in Porto after he qualified for main draw and posted wins from a set down over Khumoyun Sultanov and Edas Butvilas. Echargui, whose only Challenger SF to date came at Modena in 2023, became the 3rd Tunisian to reach a Challenger final after Jaziri (14) and Dougaz (1).
Despite playing in his first Challenger final, Echargui wasn’t showing any nerves at all. It was Maestrelli who looked lethargic and just wasn’t moving around the court with the same energy as the Tunisian, hitting plenty of errors with sloppy footwork. Echargui excelled in this setting and was able to confidently race towards the finish line, becoming the 2nd player from his country to win a Challenger title (8 – Jaziri) with the 6-3 6-2 win. He is on the entry list for an M25 event in Monastir next week, while Maestrelli is playing Kozerki.
Hagen
Guy den Ouden has been on fire in Challengers recently, reaching at least the semifinals in his last four events at this level (Prague final, Heilbronn final, Bunschoten SF). In Hagen, the key match of the tournament was his clash against No. 1 seed Botic van de Zandschulp with den Ouden reeling off the last 5 games from 1-3 down in the decider. Due to rain, the 23-year-old had to play twice on Sunday and started from a semifinal beatdown against Jerome Kym.
Yannick Hanfmann played just two Challengers this season before Hagen with the ATP Tour appearances usually not living up to the expectations (however, at the end of July he made Kitzbuhel quarterfinals). Keeping that form up didn’t come easy as Hanfmann had to save a match point on return against Timofey Skatov in the second round (volley winner). The veteran then took out in-form Jan Choinski and Challenger semifinal debutant Olle Wallin to make his first final since October 2022.
Den Ouden was 0-5 in finals this year across the ITF and Challenger Tours and after he took the opening set 6-3, it seemed like he might finally grab a title. Unfortunately, mentally it was weighing down on him with the serve quickly getting wobbly and the first-ball aggression just feeling nowhere near as threatening. Hanfmann took the opening like the veteran he is and brutally punished den Ouden’s doubt, taking his 7th title (1st since 2020) 3-6 6-2 6-2. Both players are taking a week off now before returning in Cancun or Sumter to get ready for US Open qualifying.
Lexington
Zachary Svajda might be in the form of his life right now with the terrific grass swing (14-3, capped off with the Newport title) and then a run from qualifying in Washington (defeated Miomir Kecmanovic in the main draw). The American wasted no time proving it with only Nishesh Basavareddy coming close in the quarterfinals. The No. 1 seed had a 0-40 opening to lead by a set and a break, but didn’t take it and Svajda was able to come out on top in the end.
Bernard Tomic couldn’t get past the quarterfinal stage at Challengers this year with four losses, but was able to turn things around in Lexington. The Australian secured his return to the Top 200 with the quarterfinal win over Giles Hussey, before handing Eliot Spizzirri his fourth semifinal loss in as many weeks. Tomic was 3-5 down in the deciding set, saving a match point (double fault) and coming out on top in a memorable encounter.
Tomic was initially successful at making Svajda lose the plot a little with his off-pace style, working the point with the slice and serving very well. But he suddenly went into low-intensity mode at the start of the second set and started rushing like crazy between points. Later when he wanted to fight back, he lost an important rally due to hindrance after signaling ‘out’ mid-point and got lobbed by Svajda again and again. The American claimed his 6th Challenger title 2-6 6-3 6-2 and will now play Cincinnati qualifying, while Tomic stays at this level in Chicago.
Liberec
Genaro Alberto Olivieri had been looking for another Challenger final for almost exactly two years since winning Santo Domingo in August 2023. He was slightly helped out by Alex Barrena’s retirement in the second round, but then didn’t look back as he took his chance. The Argentinian reached his third semifinal of the season by coming back from 0-2 down in the deciding set to defeat Jack Pinnington Jones, before breaking the streak in an emotional win against Daniel Michalski.
Gonzalo Bueno couldn’t win consecutive matches in three events since arriving in Europe in July, and his confidence wasn’t at its highest when the week began in Liberec. Despite some incredible defensive work, he almost blew a 5-1 lead in the third set against Hynek Barton. But that experience only made him stronger for the rest of the event as Bueno went on to produce a series of excellent wins, including bagel sets against the experienced Stefano Travaglia and Norbert Gombos.
Bueno’s perfect form in Liberec continued, but his opponent also wasn’t able to give it his all. Oliveri struggled with a blister on his foot and despite taking a medical timeout after the opening set, he was forced to retire at 2-6 0-2 with Bueno claiming his 3rd Challenger title and rising to career-high No. 220 in the ATP Rankings. Both finalists were in the draw in Cordenons this week, but Olivieri chose to pull out after retiring in the Liberec final.
Astana
Before this week, Alexandr Binda had only played one Challenger main draw match (as a lucky loser in Hersonissos-1 this year) and had just lost in qualifying for both Segovia and Pozoblanco. But the Russian had been winning a fair bit at the ITF level with two M15 titles in 2025 and the Challenger 50 in Astana turned out to be right up his alley. He took down Olaf Pieczkowski in three sets before surviving Abdullah Shelbayh in a little less than three hours to reach the final.
Nicolai Budkov Kjaer went up in the rankings after winning Tampere the week before Astana, but controversially chose not to sign up for US Open qualifying. Despite that, he still switched surfaces to hard courts for a week and took the tough travel plan from Finland to Kazakhstan. Getting a Wednesday start helped and the Norwegian quickly became the overwhelming favorite for the title, only letting one set go to a tie-break on the way to another final (against Ricardas Berankis).
Binda didn’t give Budkov Kjaer an easy time in the final, holding up well off the ground with the Norwegian making some sloppy forehand errors. But in the long run, the No. 2 seed just had enough quality to start pulling away in the most important moments. Budkov Kjaer claimed his 3rd Challenger title (all this year) 6-4 6-3 and is now very firmly inside the Top 200. He is supposed to return to the tour in Todi after a week of rest, while Binda took a special exempt for Kozerki next week.
Events held this week:
- Bonn Open (Challenger 75, clay)
- 2025 Chicago Men’s Challenger (Challenger 75, hard)
- Serena Wines 1881 – Acqua Maniva Tennis Cup “Internazionali del Friuli Venezia Giulia” (Cordenons, Challenger 75, clay)
- Kozerki Open (Challenger 75, hard)
Top 100 players in action:
- Raphael Collignon (Bonn)
- Carlos Taberner (Cordenons)
- Kamil Majchrzak (Kozerki)
First-round matches to watch:
Bonn
- (4) Vilius Gaubas vs (WC) Diego Dedura
- Joao Lucas Reis da Silva vs (SE) Olle Wallin
Chicago
- (ALT) Stefan Dostanic vs (6) Bernard Tomic
- (8) Rodrigo Pacheco Mendez vs (CO) Michael Zheng
Cordenons
- (1/WC) Carlos Taberner vs (NG) Federico Bondioli
- Genaro Alberto Olivieri vs (3) Zsombor Piros
Kozerki
- (1) Kamil Majchrzak vs (PR) Ilya Ivashka
- (4) Kyrian Jacquet vs Federico Cina
Main Photo Credit: Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports
