A LOOK BACK

Apis Canberra International (Canberra, Australia): Fifth seed and local favourite James Duckworth captured his second ATP Challenger Tour title of the year in an all-Aussie final over ninth seed Marc Polmans, 7-5, 6-3. Duckworth lasted lift up a winner’s trophy in May in Bangkok.

The 19-year-old Polmans was making his first appearance in a Challenger final. He is projected to move inside the Top 220 of the Emirates ATP Rankings on Monday. Polmans has already jumped well over 600 spots in the Emirates ATP Rankings since the start of the season.

Charlottesville Men’s Pro Challenger (Charlottesville, Virginia): American teenager Reilly Opelka captured his first pro title in a marathon final over Ruben Bemelmans of Belgium, 6-4, 2-6, 7-6(5). Opelka hit 98 aces throughout the week, including 28 in the final. He is the 11^th teen titlist this year on the ATP Challenger Tour and the third American teen winner, joining Taylor Fritz (Happy Valley) and Frances Tiafoe (Granby, Stockton). Opelka was ranked outside the Top 1,000 of the Emirates ATP Rankings, but is now projected to move up to No. 208 on Monday.

Despite the loss, Bemelmans can be pleased with reaching his first Challenger final since April 2015 in Le Gosier, Guadeloupe.

American Brian Baker also teamed with Aussie Sam Groth as the top seeds to prevail over Brydan Klein/Ruan Roelofse. Baker is now 20-0 in Challenger doubles this year, winning five straight titles with four different partners.

Bauer Watertechnology Cup (Eckental, Germany): Fifth seed Steve Darcis continued his outstanding season in Challengers with a win in the final over teenager qualifier Alex De Minaur of Australia, 6-4, 6-2. Darcis was competing in his sixth Challenger final since June (3-3), having earned titles in Trnava, Slovakia, and Lyon, France.

De Minaur and Polmans were the third and fourth Aussie teens to appear in Challenger finals this year. They were a combined 1-7 in main draws entering the week and went 8-2 in Eckental and Canberra, respectively. De Minaur is the second 17 year old to contest a Challenger final this year, joining Seville winner Casper Ruud. Last year, both 17-year-old Challenger finalists – Fritz and Tiafoe – went on to crack the Top 100 of the Emirates ATP Rankings in 2016.

Challenger Ciudad de Guayaquil (Guayaquil, Ecuador): Nicolas Kicker continud Argentina’s dominance on the ATP Challenger Tour with a convincing win in the final over Arthur De Greef of Belgium, 6-3, 6-2. It’s his second Challenger title of the year, with Kicker last prevailing in June in Perugia, Italy. De Greef drops to 1-3 in Challenger finals in 2016, with his lone title coming in August in Liberec, Czech Republic.

WHAT THE PLAYERS SAID

Duckworth: “Marc is a really good competitor and I had to fight for every point.  I’m just really thrilled to come through with the win.”

“This year has had its ups and downs…it’s been tough to get my [Emirates ATP] ranking back up, but I’m playing well now and I’m 99 per cent healthy, which is the most important thing.”

Kicker: “I am really happy for this victory and for the whole week. I played calm and at a high level all week. I came here with a lot of pressure and I wasn’t doing well on the court recently. But this week I was able to find my game and lift another trophy for Argentina.”

A LOOK AHEAD

There are six Challengers on the calendar this week, with the $100,000 event in Bratislava, Slovakia, taking top billing. The event returns for the 17th straight year and features several illustrious past champions, including Marcos Baghdatis, Marc Rosset and Karol Kucera.  World No. 52 Florian Mayer of Germany is the top seed, while World No. 69 Illya Marchenko of Ukraine is the second seed. German Jan-Lennard Struff, a winner over Stan Wawrinka last week at the BNP Paribas Masters, is the fourth seed, while #NextGen star Daniil Medvedev of Russia is the sixth seed.

The $100,000 tournament in Mouilleron-le-Captif, France, returns for the fourth straight year. Defending champion and local favourite Benoit Paire returns as the top seed and former Top 10 player Mikhail Youzhny of Russia is the second seed. #NextGen stars Andrey Rublev of Russia and Quentin Halys of France are in the draw, while De Minaur looks to keep up his form from Eckental.

The $75,000 Challenger in Bogota, Colombia, is back for the 11^th year. Argentines Facundo Bagnis and Horacio Zeballos are the first and seconds seeds, respectively. Several former winners are in the draw, including fourth seed and local favourite Santiago Giraldo (2006), Victor Estrella Burgos of the Dominican Republic (2013), and defending champion Eduardo Struvay of Colombia.

The $50,000 event in Knoxville, Tennessee, returns for the 13^th year. The tournament features several prominent past winners, including Kei Nishikori and James Blake. Defending champion Daniel Evans of Great Britain returns as the top seed and American #NextGen star Frances Tiafoe is the second seed. Several other American #NextGen players are in the draw, including third seed Jared Donaldson, eighth seed Stefan Kozlov and Noah Rubin. Both Opelka and Bemelmans will also look for another big run this week.

Lastly, the $50,000 tournament in Kobe, Japan, is back for the second year. All four of the top seeds are from Japan, with Yuichi Sugita as the top seed and #NextGen star Yoshihito Nishioka as the second seed. #NextGen star Hyeon Chung of Korea is the fifth seed, while Duckworth looks for another title this week as the seventh seed.

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First, he claimed the No. 1 spot in the Emirates ATP Rankings. Then, Andy Murray lifted his maiden BNP Paribas Masters trophy. Next? Murray says he’s looking to culminate a fortnight of firsts with a title at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals.

Murray will be the top seed on home soil when he enters The O2 in London, bidding for his first victory at the season finale. The red hot Scot is riding a 19-match win streak after defeating John Isner on Sunday in Paris.

“Hopefully I can play some good tennis there,” said Murray. “I will take a few days’ break now, and rest up a little bit and get ready for one big push out of the next 10 days.

“The last few years I haven’t played so well there. One year I played really well there and missed out by I don’t know even know what it was in the end, but by a game. And one of the years I played one of the best matches of the year against Rafa in the semi-finals… I just want to play my best and finish the year on a good note in that respect.”

Murray caps the Emirates ATP Race To London in the top position, having claimed eight titles and posting a 73-9 record in 2016. While the 29 year old admits he is playing the best tennis of his career and is proud to have ascended to World No. 1, he understands that nothing is guaranteed and is looking to savour the moment.

“It might only be for one week,” Murray added. “So I might as well try and enjoy it, because I could lose it at the Tour Finals and never be there again. So I was really happy about that and hopefully will feel the same way going into London, as well. I’m sure I will, because you’re competing against the best players in front of a big crowd there.”

Achieving such a signficant milestone has given Murray a fresh perspective on his career. Healthy and refreshed, the Dunblane native is gearing up for a thrilling finish to the season. He has work to do to become year-end No. 1 and will battle Djokovic for the honour at what is shaping to be a thrilling Barclays ATP World Tour Finals.

“I wouldn’t say I feel sort of more or less tired at this stage of the season physically. But mentally I have been in a good place for a long time now this year and I don’t feel stressed at all away from the court. I still find the matches stressful, but in the buildup to the match or when I’m back at home, I’m just in a good place and that helps.”

Henri Kontinen and John Peers continued their late-season surge on Sunday, winning their first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 team title at the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris.

The unseeded Kontinen/Peers knocked off top-seeded Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut 6-4, 3-6, 10-6 in front of a partisan French crowd. The Finnish/Australian duo struck 11 aces and outplayed Herbert/Mahut in the Match Tie-break, leading 9-4 before Peers clinched the title with a forehand volley.

“It was amazing to actually get the first Masters [1000] title for both of us. I know we’ve put in a lot of hard work together and it’s something to cap off a really good year, just before we head into London,” Peers said.

Kontinen/Peers had reached the final of the Shanghai Rolex Masters last month but fell in straight sets to Americans Jack Sock and John Isner. With the Paris title, they’ll climb one spot to No. 5 in the Emirates ATP Doubles Race To London. They’ll also enter the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals later this month as one of the hottest doubles teams on tour, having dropped only one set en route to their maiden Masters 1000 crown.

“We’ve just been really building all year, and I believed it was just a matter of time until we really got in sync and started to actually back it up match after match,” Peers said. “We’ve been able to get some really good matches here and there throughout the year but it’s actually been a challenge for us to back it up every day. I think we’re starting to learn how to do that as a team and also as individuals so it’s been really good to be able to do that.”

Kontinen/Peers will make their team debut at the season finale, to be held 13-20 November at The O2 in London. They will receive 1,000 Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings and split €222,150 in prize money for winning the Paris title.

“It’s a point here and there, and today we got a couple of lucky ones in the Match Tie-break and that obviously helped us in the end,” Kontinen said.

Herbert/Mahut were trying to win their fourth Masters 1000 crown of the season after securing back-to-back-to-back Masters 1000 titles to start the year (Indian Wells, Miami, Monte-Carlo). The Frenchmen still head to London with a barrel of momentum, having also reached the semi-finals in Basel (l. to Granollers/Sock) and the final in Antwerp (l. to Nestor/Roger-Vasselin) last month.

Herbert/Mahut will receive 600 Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings Points and split €108,750 in prize money.