Tennis News

Nava nets fourth Challenger title of year, tying season lead

Emilio Nava built on his career-best year Sunday at the ATP Challenger Tour event in Villa Maria, Argentina, where the American captured his fourth title of 2025. Nava and Borna Coric are now tied atop the Challenger season leaderboard with four titles each.

Returning to action for the first time since the US Open, Nava dropped just one set en route to the title and ousted home hope Alex Barrena 6-3, 6-3 in the final.

Dream week complete 💫

Top seed Emilio Nava overcomes Barrena 6-3, 6-3 to claim his fourth Challenger title of the season!#ATPChallenger pic.twitter.com/BlbdN6RIlo

— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) September 21, 2025

“I had a pretty good week,” said the bilingual Nava in Spanish. “My team and I did a good job. I like [the Argentine crowd] because it adds a little more tension [when facing an Argentine] and it makes everything a little more fun when the crowd is at 100 per cent. I loved it.”

Nava, who is coached by Argentine Diego Cristin, has earned all six of his Challenger trophies on clay. Earlier this season, he went on a 19-match winning streak on the surface, a run during which he won three titles (Asuncion, Concepcion and Sarasota) and finished runner-up in Tallahassee.

The 23-year-old made his Top 100 debut last Monday and is currently No. 90 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings.

Reigning NCAA singles champ Zheng saves two championship points
In other Challenger action, reigning NCAA singles champion Michael Zheng saved two championship points to capture his second title of the season. The Columbia University star rallied past Martin Damm 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 in an all-American final at the indoor Columbus Challenger in Ohio.

Damm, who was aiming for his first Challenger trophy, held championship points on return at 5-4, 15/40 in the decider. Yet Zheng prevailed, backing up his Chicago Challenger triumph from last month to extend his winning streak at that level to 10. Zheng, 21, is up 85 places to No. 227 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings.

Make that title number ✌️

Michael Zheng battles past Damm 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 to become the champion in Columbus!#ATPChallenger | @usta pic.twitter.com/TAlWnaTPt2

— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) September 21, 2025

Choinski claims title after saving four consecutive match points in R2
Briton Jan Choinski went from almost out of the tournament to winning the LAYJET – Open presented by Kronen Zeitung in Bad Waltersdorf, Austria. Down four consecutive match points in the second round to Marko Topo, the 29-year-old escaped 2-6, 6-1, 7-6(6) and built upon his momentum to lift his third Challenger trophy of the year and sixth overall. Choinski beat Vit Kopriva 7-5, 6-4 in the final.

Tuniasian Echargui wins third trophy in as many months
Tunisia’s Moez Echargui won his third Challenger title in as many months at the Saint-Tropez Open. Echargui defeated Frenchman Dan Added 6-3, 6-4 in the final. In July, the 32-year-old became the second-oldest (Joseph Sirianni) first-time Challenger champion with his triumph in Porto.

<img alt=”Moez Echargui wins the Saint-Tropez Open.” style=”width:100%;” src=”/-/media/images/news/2025/09/22/14/29/echargui-sainttropezch-2025.jpg” />
^{Moez Echargui wins the Saint-Tropez Open. Credit: Saint-Tropez Open}

Former No. 3 Stan Wawrinka made the Saint-Tropez semi-finals, yet withdrew before Saturday’s match against Added due to a left hamstring injury. Wawrinka, 40, reached a Challenger final the previous week in Rennes, France.

Agamenone lifts first title in more than two years
Italian Franco Agamenone returned to the winner’s circle for the first time since July 2023. The 32-year-old claimed the Intaro Open 2 in Targu Mures, Romania, where he downed top seed Jay Clarke 6-3, 6-4 in the final. Agamenone is a five-time Challenger champion.

<img alt=”Franco Agamenone celebrates winning the Targu Mures Challenger.” style=”width:100%;” src=”/-/media/images/news/2025/09/22/14/25/agamenone-targumuresch-2025.jpg” />
^{Franco Agamenone celebrates winning the Targu Mures Challenger. Credit: Intaro Open 2}

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With Rafa watching, Rincon completes full-circle triumph at Nadal Academy

Daniel Rincon glanced up from the baseline and suddenly froze. Leading 2-0 in his second-round match at the ATP Challenger Tour event held at Rafa Nadal Academy by Movistar, the Spaniard spotted Rafael Nadal himself watching from the stands.

“I saw him looking and I lost six games in a row,” Rincon said with a laugh, speaking with ATPTour.com. “I got a bit tight there.”

The nerves did not derail Rincon for long. The 22-year-old regrouped, won the match and went on to capture the trophy at the very place where he trained and graduated from in 2021.

While competing in the final, Rincon again spotted the former World No. 1 Nadal watching, although the match was almost halfway over, so Rincon “didn’t have too much time to think about it”.

Rincon’s triumph at his stomping grounds — with friends, family and other supporters (like Rafa!) in attendance — completed a full-circle moment for him.

“It was the best week of my life, by far. I really cannot compare it to anything else,” said the No. 209 player in the PIF ATP Rankings. “I thought about how it could be before the final, or the feelings of winning there, but it was even more than I imagined. It was unbelievable.”

Both of Rincon’s Challenger triumphs have featured memorable moments. When he won his first Challenger title last year in Tampere, Finland, his luggage was lost. He battled through the opening rounds with only three racquets, borrowed strings and grips.

“I was going with a little bag on court, I was looking like an amateur player going to practise on a Sunday,” Rincon said at the time. “Just with three t-shirts and going to do laundry every day.”

In Manacor, the 22-year-old rallied from 2-5 in the third set of his first two matches and also needed a decider in his quarter-final and semi-final matches.

Nadal’s presence added to the storybook week, even though Rincon did not have the chance to speak with the 92-time tour-level titlist during the tournament.

“In the second round, I knew he was coming,” Rincon said. “I have some people who are close to him and they knew he had to come do some media things and he was going to stay a little bit for the match, so I was trying not to look, but at the same time looking like, ‘When is he going to come?’ So the first day, I was basically looking for him.”

Rincon’s connection to the Rafa Nadal Academy runs deep. He first arrived at the state-of-the-art facility as a 16-year-old in September 2019. The Manacor Challenger final was being played on his first day, so it is fitting he would one day claim a special victory at the same event.

Rincon reflected on his journey: “Now that I actually played the final, who would have thought when I was just 16 and working with my two suitcases that I would play there?”

<img alt=”Daniel Rincon triumphs at the Manacor Challenger.” style=”width:100%;” src=”/-/media/images/news/2025/09/01/02/29/rincon-mallorcach-2025.jpg” />
^{Credit: Alvaro Diaz/Rafa Nadal Open by Movistar}

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Bublik reaches Hangzhou final, joins Alcaraz, Sinner, Zverev on elite list

Alexander Bublik joined Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner and Alexander Zverev as the only men to advance to tour-level finals on all three surfaces this season on Monday at the Lynk & Co Hangzhou Open, where he defeated Chinese wild card Wu Yibing 6-3, 6-3.

Bublik won titles on clay in Gstaad and Kitzbuhel in July and captured a crown on grass in Halle in June. Now at the ATP 250 hard-court event in Hangzhou, the third seed has looked impressive. In a dominant performance against Wu, Bublik fired 19 aces past the home favourite to reach the championship match after 61 minutes.

“I was expecting a tough battle. Clearly he was a little tired from yesterday. It is never easy to play someone from a specific region at home,” Bublik said. “I am happy I stayed strong and didn’t give him many chances.”

Wu upset Daniil Medvedev in the quarter-finals in Hangzhou but struggled to deal with Bublik’s big game in the pair’s first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting. Bublik is 30-17 on the season and is on course for a career-best season, having earned a previous 35 wins in 2021, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index. Bublik is searching for his third title in his past four tournaments, with his only defeat in this run coming against then-World No. 1 Jannik Sinner in the fourth round at the US Open.

Bublik is up three spots to 12th in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin and will look to finish the season strongly in a bid to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals for the first time. He will meet French qualifier Valentin Royer in the championship match on Tuesday.

Royer continued his breakthrough week with a 6-3, 6-2 triumph against countryman Corentin Moutet. The 24-year-old was competing in his first tour-level semi-final and is the fourth qualifier to reach an ATP Tour final this year.

Royer struck 15 winners and committed 13 unforced errors against Moutet and dealt with the lefty’s court craft to seal victory in the pair’s first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting. Royer is up 13 places to No. 75 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings and will rise to a career-high on Wednesday.

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Agassi on Laver Cup learnings… Delusion & less talking

Andre Agassi has enjoyed his fair share of highs on a tennis court. The American reached No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings and won 60 tour-level titles, including eight majors.

A little more than 19 years since his retirement, Agassi wrote another chapter into his tennis playbook when on Sunday as captain, he led Team World to victory against Team Europe at the Laver Cup in San Francisco. It is a weekend that will live long in the memory.

“Everybody played a part in making this one of the most memorable weeks I’ve ever spent on a tennis court,” Agassi said on Sunday night. “And that’s saying something, because it was a lot of years I’ve been out there in one form or another with a perceived team, but this really was a team. So proud of the guys. Just unflappable. They never stopped believing.”

From the sidelines, Agassi, alongside vice captain Patrick Rafter, helped Taylor Fritz, Joao Fonseca, Alex de Minaur and Francisco Cerundolo earn singles victories, with De Minaur and Michelsen also triumphing in a doubles rubber during the three-day event. Even with his decades of experience, Agassi found himself learning from the group he was leading.

“I think the common theme that I took away from this group is just how confident they are in what they can do on a tennis court. It’s not delusional. I mean, it can be delusional… But it was amazing to watch their calm in the midst of storms,” Agassi said. “What I learned is kind of what I continue to learn, which is try to do more listening than talking and try to stay out of their way.”

Fritz was the star man for Team World in San Francisco. He earned his first Lexus ATP Head2Head win against Carlos Alcaraz on Saturday and then backed that up by overcoming Alexander Zverev on Sunday, securing the decisive points for Team World.

“It was going to be tough to come back and play like I played on [Saturday]. Funny thing, I was leaving the hotel. I saw Roddick, who I haven’t really spoken to too much in the past, and he said, ‘Don’t worry, you’ll play better today’, joking about how well I played against Carlos,” Fritz said.

“We had to pick the line-up for today and we sat down as a team and I was the one that wanted to put myself in the slot that I put myself. So, when it came down to it, I just had to perform. It’s a matchup that I obviously feel somewhat comfortable in. No matter what, I was just going to compete as hard as I could for the team and do everything I could do.”

The hosts earned a 15-9 victory in San Francisco but after eight editions, Team Europe holds a 5-3 lead against Team World.

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Alcaraz learns Tokyo draw fate

Carlos Alcaraz will face Sebastian Baez on his debut at the Kinoshita Group Japan Open Tennis Championships, following the draw on Monday.

The Spaniard is competing at the ATP 500 hard-court event for the first time and is seeded to meet eighth seed Frances Tiafoe in the quarter-finals and Norway’s Casper Ruud in the semi-finals.

Alcaraz, who will take a 2-0 Lexus ATP Head2Head series lead into his meeting with Baez, returned to No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings earlier this month when he defeated Jannik Sinner in the US Open final to clinch his sixth major.

Ruud, a titlist in Madrid this year, faces Japanese wild card Shintaro Mochizuki in the first round, while Tiafoe plays a qualifier. The American Tiafoe reached the final in Tokyo in 2022. Also in the top half, seventh seed Denis Shapovalov, a two-time Tokyo semi-finalist, opens against German Daniel Altmaier.

Second seed Taylor Fritz won the trophy in Japan in 2022. The American plays Canadian Gabriel Diallo in the first round and could meet fifth seed Tomas Machac in the quarter-finals. The Czech Machac begins against a qualifier.

Third seed Holger Rune, a potential semi-final opponent for Fritz, meets former Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF champion Hamad Medjedovic in the first round. Rune could play Alex Michelsen in the second round and sixth seed Ugo Humbert in the quarter-finals. Last year’s finalist Humbert begins against Jenson Brooksby.

The ATP 500 event will be held from 24 to 30 September.

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Fritz secures Laver Cup win for Team World

American Taylor Fritz beats Germany’s Alexander Zverev to complete a 15-9 victory for Team World against Team Europe in the Laver Cup.

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