Joao Fonseca and Alexander Bublik were among those to use the ATP Challenger 175 level as a springboard to bigger stages in 2025. They were not the only stars to shine at the highest category of ATP Challenger tournaments. Borna Coric earned a memorable victory against Stan Wawrinka in a thrilling Aix-en-Provence final.
Fonseca, Bublik and Coric were three of the six Challenger 175 titlists of 2025. ATPTour.com recaps this past season’s champions at that level.
Fonseca enters Challenger record books in Phoenix
Fonseca stacked milestone accomplishments in his breakthrough season, including a historic title run at the Arizona Tennis Classic. The Brazilian became the second-youngest player from South America — behind Juan Martin del Potro — to win three ATP Challenger titles.
“Having a good run at this Challenger, a 175, but it could be like an ATP 250 by the ranking of the players, easily,” Fonseca said in Phoenix. “It was super, super hard.”
South American-born players to win three Challenger titles aged 18 and under:
| Player |
Age |
| Juan Martin del Potro |
17 years, 10 months |
| Joao Fonseca |
18 years, six months |
| Guillermo Coria |
18 years, 10 months |
Andre Agassi made a special appearance at the Phoenix Challenger, where the former No. 1 performed the honourary coin toss ahead of Fonseca’s quarter-final match against Hugo Gaston. In the final, Fonseca defeated Alexander Bublik 7-6(5), 7-6(0).
Kovacevic wins biggest career crown
The same week Fonseca triumphed in Phoenix, American Aleksandar Kovacevic claimed his biggest career title at the Cap Cana Challenger in the Dominican Republic. Kovacevic, like Fonseca, defeated four Top 100 players en route to the title. The former University of Illinois standout raced past Damir Dzumhur 6-2, 6-3 in a 71-minute final at the Republica Dominicana Open, Copa Cap Cana Ciudad Destino.
“The conditions here are very, very difficult to be ready for,” a relieved Kovacevic said after winning the trophy. “In my quarter-final match, I was cramping at the end of the match and that could be the difference. If I cramped a little bit harder, I wouldn’t have been able to continue the match or I’d have had to retire probably.”
Coric downs Wawrinka in deciding-set tie-break to triumph in Aix-en-Provence
Fan favourites Borna Coric and Stan Wawrinka delivered a championship-match showdown at the Open Aix Provence Crédit Agricole. Coric, former No. 12 in the PIF ATP Rankings, outlasted the three-time major champion 6-7(5), 6-3, 7-6(4) after a hard-fought three-hour, 11-minute battle on the French clay.
Coric won three consecutive Challenger titles spanning from February to March, and then added to that count in Aix-en-Provence. The Croatian was one of six players to capture four Challenger titles in 2025.
Michelsen wins first clay-court title with dominant week in Estoril
Alex Michelsen celebrated a milestone moment at the Millennium Estoril Open, where the American captured his first clay-court title. Michelsen did not drop a set all week and following his title run, he returned to his career-high No. 32.
“My mindset has gotten better on clay since last year. I was kind of dreading it, but now I’m enjoying it,” Michelsen said after defeating Italian Andrea Pellegrino 6-4, 6-4 in the final. “I got here super early because I lost in the first round in Madrid, so I probably had five, six days of preparation before I played, so I had really good preparation this week.”
Bublik builds momentum before surging on ATP Tour
Bublik produced his career-best season, claiming four tour-level titles and propelling to a career-high No. 11 in November. Before that surge in the second half of the year, Bublik was building momentum at Challenger tournaments, including in Phoenix, where he reached the final and then on clay in Turin, where the Kazakh won the Piemonte Open Intesa Sanpaolo.
“For me, it was just keeping my level to get back to where I belong where I stayed most of my career,” Bublik said after beating Buyunchaokete 6-3, 6-3 in the Turin final. “It’s just a little step towards what I really want to achieve.”
Mpetshi Perricard serves up home victory in Bordeaux
Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard leaned on a standout serving performance to win on home soil at the BNP Paribas Primrose Bordeaux. The 6’10” Frenchman outlasted former No. 16 Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-3, 6-7(5), 7-5 after hammering 26 aces in the final, during which he also saved 11 of 12 break points, according to Infosys ATP Stats.
Bublik and Mpetshi Perricard’s winning form was quickly put to test, as the two faced off in the opening round of the ATP 500 event in Hamburg just two days after they each were lifting trophies. Mpetshi Perricard won their Hamburg meeting to improve to 2-1 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series.
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