Why not, let's pay attention to Challengers too...

Aabye5

G.O.A.T.
Tulln: Jozef Kovalik v Jelle Sels, 76(6) 76(3)
Seville: Roberto Carballes Baena v Bernabe Zapata Miralles, 63 76(6)
Cassis: Hugo Grenier v James Duckworth, 75 64
Nonthaburi 3: Stuart Parker v Arthur Cazaux, 64 41 (ret)
 

guanzishou

G.O.A.T.
Raining, can't play tennis... Watching Cary Challenger.

Shang vs Thompson.

Thompson 7-6 6-6 (3-5)

Shang got an upper hand in second set tie break
 

guanzishou

G.O.A.T.
Wow what a fh dtl inside in winner by Shang, right on the line, after a long rally.

Set point. Shang.

Wasted set point, fh dtl went wide.
 

guanzishou

G.O.A.T.
2nd set Shang.

What a terrible double fault by Thompson... The ball hit upward to the stand.

I thought it was a net on the first serve... Umpire called "net". But maybe it wasn't a net, and the first serve was called out.


Thompson went berserk. He yelled something like "unbelievable!!! ... On a set point!!!"

What a terrible umpiring on a set point!!!!!!
 
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guanzishou

G.O.A.T.
Dang, Shang suddenly called the physio for ankle problem. He was ready to serve on advantage, but called for physio suddenly.
 

guanzishou

G.O.A.T.
GSM Thompson

Very bad sportsmanship by Shang. He smashed his racquet on the umpires chair. The racquet made the banging sound in the metallic legs of the chair and then told the umpire off. He kept arguing with the umpire throughout the match about line calling.
 

guanzishou

G.O.A.T.
Junchen Shang left the court and verbally abused the umpire, he said to the umpire: "You're a piece of sh** . F*** you"

(n)(n)(n)(n)


 
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James P

G.O.A.T.
Yet another Italian's stock is rising. Mattia Bellucci, whom prior to two weeks ago had a single Challenger QF appearance on his resume, has won back-to-back Challenger titles. He won Saint Tropez, going through the quallies, winning 7 matches in 8 days. Followed that up with a title in Vilnius, and is now on a 12 match win streak. In two weeks, he's moved up 119 spots from #275 to #156 in the world. Impressive stuff.
 

travlerajm

Talk Tennis Guru
Yet another Italian's stock is rising. Mattia Bellucci, whom prior to two weeks ago had a single Challenger QF appearance on his resume, has won back-to-back Challenger titles. He won Saint Tropez, going through the quallies, winning 7 matches in 8 days. Followed that up with a title in Vilnius, and is now on a 12 match win streak. In two weeks, he's moved up 119 spots from #275 to #156 in the world. Impressive stuff.
He also has 7 total ITF titles this season (5s 2d), giving him 9 titles on the season.
 

gogo

Legend
Junchen Shang left the court and verbally abused the umpire, he said to the umpire: "You're a piece of sh** . F*** you"

(n)(n)(n)(n)



oooff! That's disappointing.
I really want Jerry to be a 'good' star since having a very good male Chinese player would be good for the sport.
 
Finnish "Kyrgios" Otto Virtanen beats Struff 6-2, 7-5 in Bergamo final, serving 19 aces and 3 double faults. Virtanen didn't lose a set in his two qualifying and 5 main draw matches. He beat Zhang, Stricker and Borges on the way.

Virtanen (b. 2001) was as promising as a junior as Ruusuvuori, but he's struggled on his first pro years, but it seems he's now back on track. He's a completely different type of player as Ruusuvuori, a bit like Kyrgios.
 
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James P

G.O.A.T.
Hugo Gaston finally wins a title at the Challenger level. 0-4 in finals previously (also 0-1 at ATP Tour level in finals). Long time coming for the young Frenchman.
 

stringertom

Bionic Poster
Gunny is lacking the raxx customization to take it to the next level.
What Gunnysac kneads iz a paire up whiff ewer favorite stickman, The Peniston. They wood bee very potent!

BTW, The Peniston iz FINNISH in Helsinki, loosing 2R to Hanfmann. He thanks you for your lack of UA support.
 

bluetrain4

G.O.A.T.
I should head over to Champaign this weekend for the challenger since I live close. Though I'm assuming seating is tight at Atkins. Do they add bleachers on courts adjacent to the match court for the later rounds?
 

stringertom

Bionic Poster
Ben shelton coming to Melb, woot.

Been enjoy his progress on the fast US challenger crts. He may find our laid back courts bit slower :-D:-D
He was awfully close to being a lock before this week with all the winning (2 straight titles) not only propelling him to near top 100 (NCH #107 with the QF win today) but also sewing up the reciprocal WC if it becomes necessary. If he gets in on points alone then it looks good for Eubanks to earn the WC. They are on a collision course for a third consecutive final on Sunday after wins today and, more importantly for Eubanks, a 2R defeat of Sandgren by Eubanks that freezes the latter’s points tally in the USTA ladder for the WC.
 

stringertom

Bionic Poster
Ben Shelton is looking to sweep the trifecta of Challengers on NCAA campuses on Sunday when he plays Aleksandar Vukic in the Champaign final.

Tomas Machac is into the Helsinki final and will play Leandro Reidi.

Vasek Pospisil is rebounding a bit and will try to defend Canadian turf in the Drummondville final. Michael Mmoh has crossed the border and made his way through the draw to play Maple Syrup Vasek.

Both Machac (NCH #102) and Shelton (NCH #105) will crack top 100 with titles. Shelton’s accomplishment, should he win, is particularly remarkable in that he began 2022 at #568 on points earned on breaks from playing his way to the NCAA title for Florida and his dad/head coach Bryan. After some solid results in the summer Challengers/USO Series and a great effort at USO, he decided to turn pro and crush some much higher ranked players this autumn. That’s one fine trajectory for the young lefty!
 
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stringertom

Bionic Poster
Machac was denied the title and top 100 breakthrough emphatically by Reidi, 3&1. Quite the trip through qualies all the way to the title for the Swiss 20-year-old! He is FINNISH in Helsinki but heads very far south to Andria (ITA) and a 1R encounter with Gaston. Without ATP Tour level play this week, WATLYNM may open doors if the occasion dictates.
 

James P

G.O.A.T.
Machac was denied the title and top 100 breakthrough emphatically by Reidi, 3&1. Quite the trip through qualies all the way to the title for the Swiss 20-year-old! He is FINNISH in Helsinki but heads very far south to Andria (ITA) and a 1R encounter with Gaston. Without ATP Tour level play this week, WATLYNM may open doors if the occasion dictates.
I haven't cataloged it, but I feel like Machac has been one win away from breaking into the top 100 about five times now.
 

stringertom

Bionic Poster
I haven't cataloged it, but I feel like Machac has been one win away from breaking into the top 100 about five times now.
He approached the breakthrough on second Monday of USO (109) and has hovered within +/- six spots of that ranking until Saturday.
 

travlerajm

Talk Tennis Guru
I haven't cataloged it, but I feel like Machac has been one win away from breaking into the top 100 about five times now.
It’s that way for everyone when they pass thru the top 100 barrier. There is a “bottleneck” there at about 100 in the rankings where the points you earn for winning challenger matches hardly make a dent in your ranking climb progress, so it feels like you have to win a lot just to stay on the treadmill.

The reason for the bottleneck at 100 is the two-tier ranking system, where ATP Main Tour matches award (on avg) 5x the points of ATP Challenger Tour matches.

Most of the guys inside the top 100 are playing main tour, while most of the guys outside top 100 are playing Challenger. This means that a guy ranked 80 in the world only has to win 1/5 of his matches to stay ahead of the guy who is ranked 110.

The net effect is that guys ranked 110 who are playing Top-80 level may never quite break the barrier. In order to break the barrier, you need to be playing Top 50 level for at least a good chunk of the year.

Most up-and-coming young players finish their first season of main tour level play with a ranking just outside the top 100. Only the elite guys come from way out to break the barrier in one season.
 

stringertom

Bionic Poster
Shelton is starting very slowly vs ex-Illini Vukic. I would imagine he’s getting DC-style crowd reaction there in favor of the Aussie alum.
 

stringertom

Bionic Poster
One way traffic for Big Ben after munching on the opening bagel, 0-6 6-3 6-2.

Congrats on cracking the top 100, up 460 plus places in a year! With good results from a decent draw at AO, Shelton could be moving away from Challengers on a permanent basis by the end of the winter of 2023.
 
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