atp challenger tour wiki

The ATP Challenger Tour: Path to the Big Time

• Last updated on May 2, 2023

Established in 1978, the Challenger circuit has grown into an important stepping stone for young tennis players looking to make it to the highest levels of the sport. 

History of the Challenger Tour

The Challenger circuit was established as a way to provide a professional level of competition for tennis players who weren’t yet ready to compete on the main tour. The circuit initially consisted of just five tournaments in the United States, but quickly grew in popularity and spread around the world.

By the mid-1980s, the Challengers had become an important part of the tennis landscape, with dozens of tournaments held each year. In 1986, the ATP officially recognized the circuit and began awarding ranking points to players based on their performances.

Since then, the circuit has continued to grow in popularity and importance, with the number of tournaments held annually growing steadily year by year. In 2008 there were 178 events played across 40 different countries. 

And although numbers have occasionally diminished, for example in the first quarter of 2013 and an inevitable dip due to Covid-19, they’ve since bounced back with 184 events taking place in 2022 and a record 190 plus planned for 2023.

Format of the Challenger Circuit

Challenger tournaments are generally smaller than those on the ATP World Tour, with most events featuring a draw of 32 or 64 players.

The format of the tournaments is similar to that of other professional tennis events, with players competing in singles and doubles matches. The matches are generally played over three sets, although some tournaments may have different rules depending on the surface and location of the event.

The winner of a Challenger event typically earns around 80 ranking points and a prize purse of between $50,000 and $125,000. By contrast, the winner of an ATP Tour event can earn upwards of 1,000 ranking points and a prize purse of more than $1 million.

However in 2023 the ATP launched a new tier of Challengers known as Challenger 175s in which, as the name suggests, the winner can earn 175 points along with prize money of $220,000. 

Importance of the ATP Challenger Circuit

For young, ambitious players, the Challenger circuit is vital. It provides an opportunity to gain valuable experience playing against other pros, while also earning vital ranking points and prize money.

Many of the world’s top players have competed in Challenger events at some point in their careers. Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, and Andy Murray all spent time on the Challenger circuit before making it to the main tour. In fact, Nadal won his first professional title at a Challenger event in 2002, Djokovic in 2004.

The circuit is also an important way for players to gain exposure and build their profiles in the tennis world. While it may not have the same level of media coverage as the ATP Tour, it provides a platform for players to showcase their talents and gain recognition from fans and sponsors.

In addition to helping young players make their way up the rankings, the Challenger circuit also plays an important role in the overall development of the sport. By providing a professional level of competition for players who are not yet ready for the ATP Tour, the circuit helps to ensure a strong pipeline of talent coming up through the ranks.

Challenger Challenges

Despite its importance, the circuit faces numerous challenges in the modern era. One of the biggest is the high cost of hosting events, which can run up to $200,000 when accounting for prize money, player accommodations, and other expenses. With smaller prize pools and less visibility than ATP Tour events, hosting organizations may struggle to justify the expense of hosting a Challenger tournament.

Another issue is the emergence of alternative tours and circuits, such as the ITF World Tennis Tour and the PTPA Challenger-style circuit. These tours provide players with additional options for competing at the professional level, which may lead some players to prioritize these events over Challenger tournaments.

The Challenger Circuit has been criticized for being financially unsustainable for players who are not in the top 100. The prize money on offer at Challenger tournaments is significantly less than that on the ATP Tour, and the costs associated with travelling to tournaments and paying for accommodation can make it difficult for players to make a living on the Challenger Circuit.

Rising to the Challenge

If you get the opportunity, the Challenger circuit is a great way to get to see up and coming stars before they hit the big time – and the occasional wizened pro. Keep an eye out right here for info on individual tournaments and if you’re looking to start your own path to the Challengers check out our round up of the best tennis rackets for beginners .

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Andy Murray plans to play ATP Challenger Tour in Bordeaux before Geneva Open - a week before French Open

Andy Murray is set to make his comeback from injury and plans to play at the Geneva Open after being handed a wild card; Scot has also signed up for Stuttgart; you can watch the ATP Stuttgart Open exclusively live on Sky Sports Tennis from June 10-16

Friday 10 May 2024 14:54, UK

Andy Murray will return from injury at next week's ATP Challenger Tour in Bordeaux before playing at the Geneva Open - live on Sky Sports Tennis - indicating he is planning on playing in the French Open the following week.

The 36-year-old, who is expected to retire at some point this season, has been sidelined since late March after damaging ankle ligaments in a third-round match against Tomas Machac at the Miami Open .

After the match Murray said he would be sidelined for "an extended period" after confirming he suffered a full rupture of his ATFL [anterior talofibular ligament] and near full thickness rupture of his CFL [calcaneofibular ligament].

🚨𝙒𝙄𝙇𝘿 𝘾𝘼𝙍𝘿 𝐀𝐧𝐝𝐲 𝐌𝐔𝐑𝐑𝐀𝐘 🇬🇧 Will play at the Gonet Geneva Open 2024 🤩 Are you ready to see @andy_murray play ? 🔥 #gonetgenevaopen #atpgva #atp #andymurray #murray #tennistv #atptour #geneva #geneve #suisse #switzerland #genevaevent #tennis #welovetennis pic.twitter.com/EXKiIyTy1F — Gonet Geneva Open (@genevaopen) May 8, 2024

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"I will see an ankle specialist when I return home to determine next steps," he said. "Goes without saying this is a tough one to take and I'll be out for an extended period. But I'll be back with one hip and no ankle ligaments when the time is right."

Murray opted not to have surgery but it had been feared the former world No 1 one may not be able to have his Wimbledon swansong.

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However, it was announced on Wednesday that Murray has been given a wild card for the ATP tournament on clay in Geneva beginning on May 18 - live on Sky Sports Tennis - indicating he is planning on playing in the French Open the following week.

But, with the French Open only a fortnight away, the Scot has opted for more clay-court practice and will also play next week in the second-tier tournament in France.

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Murray's last match on clay also came in Bordeaux a year ago, when he was heavily beaten by Stan Wawrinka before deciding not to play at Roland Garros.

The Scot has not played at Roland Garros since 2020, which was his only appearance since his hip problems began three years previously.

While Wimbledon appears the most logical venue for Murray to call time on his glittering career, he is tempted at another tilt at an Olympic medal on the Parisian clay this summer. He is the only tennis player to have won back-to-back singles gold medals, in London and Rio.

The Olympic Games in Paris are also scheduled to get under way on July 24, with direct entry handed to the top 56 of the rankings on June 10.

The Scot, who is playing with a metal hip, confirmed he is set to retire this summer, saying: "I'm likely not going to play past this summer.

"I get asked about it after every single match that I play, every single tournament that I play. I'm bored of the question, to be honest.

"I'm not going to talk more about that between now and whenever the time comes for me to stop. But, yes, I don't plan on playing much past this summer."

Murray on Clay

Murray has his sights set on a final appearance in the year's second Grand Slam, where he will also enter the doubles alongside Davis Cup team-mate Dan Evans.

Of his 46 career singles titles, only three have come on clay. Two of those have been Masters, though, with wins in Madrid (2015) and Rome (2016).

He has also been a French Open finalist but lost out in 2016 to Djokovic.

Grass, Wimbledon and Paris Olympics

Murray has already signed up for the Boss Open in Stuttgart for his first grass-court tournament from June 10-16 - live on Sky Sports Tennis .

Sky Sports Tennis' Annabel Croft said: "It's great news. None of us really knew where he was going to play, and I'm sure he doesn't quite know where his body's going to be at.

"It was such a massive setback after Miami, with that ankle turn in that match, when he was just starting to really ramp up the tennis and looked like he was playing some of his better tennis again.

"I don't think it surprises me that he's entered all of that [Geneva, Roland Garros, Stuttgart]. He'll want to play a lot of tennis. As many matches as possible."

He will then return to the home of arguably his greatest memories in the sport when he steps out on the hallowed turf at the All England Club for what will be the last time.

He will arrive on Centre Court in what is bound to be an emotional moment for the 2013 and 2016 champion.

"On grass, he can always be a problem for any player. He's so experienced, a two-time Wimbledon champion, and the options that he has in his box of tricks are always at his disposal," Croft continued.

"He can still make life very, very difficult for so many opponents, so let's hope his body is going to get back and he can give it a really good run during the summer."

The Brit will then be tempted by another crack at the Olympics in Paris, which could be his final appearance as a professional player, with his best chance likely to be in doubles.

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What's coming up on Sky Sports Tennis?

In the run-up to the second Grand Slam of 2024 - the French Open at Roland Garros from May 26 - you can watch all of the biggest tennis stars in action live on Sky Sports as they compete across the clay-court season.

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Challengers: Could Zendaya’s tennis husband hack the ATP Challenger Tour?

While the best tennis players in the world battle in one of the year’s most important tournaments in Madrid, the sport’s parallel universes align.

A whole bunch of top players are battling in the equivalent of baseball’s minor leagues in another part of Spain, in Italy and in France. They are playing Challengers.

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You know where this is going.

There’s this tennis movie that isn’t really a tennis movie called “Challengers,” in which Zendaya stars as Tashi Duncan. She’s the wife and coach of one of the world’s best players, but she was once the next big thing.

Then she got hurt and had to settle for coaching her partner to the top. 

Now he’s in a slump ahead of the U.S. Open. So she gets him to sign up for the Phil’s Tire Town Challenger tournament, where they go up against her husband’s former best friend, who was also once Tashi’s boyfriend.

There’s some history there. Let’s leave it at that.

While basically everyone leaves the theater thinking about love triangles and threesomes, the minds of tennis heads drift to the dynamics of their sport, where top players really do show up in the tournaments which are, on paper, below their standing in the global game.

Challengers is not a tennis movie — but Zendaya has something big to say about the sport

Friday, May 3, Tomas Martin Etcheverry of Argentina, a top 30 player who nobody wants to face during the first week of a Grand Slam, was taking on world No 77 Arthur Rinderknech of France at a Challenger tournament in Aix-En Provence in France.

Days before, Etcheverry had lost to Canada’s Denis Shapovalov in Madrid.

Frances Tiafoe, a second-round loser to Pedro Cachin of Argentina (the guy who asked Nadal for his shirt after their match two days later), was trying to grind out wins at the Sardegna Open in Cagliari. It didn’t go well for the 2022 U.S. Open semi-finalist, who was the top seed but lost 6-1, 7-5 to Federico Coria.

Italians Fabio Fognini — another former top 10 player — and Lorenzo Musetti, world No 29 in the rankings and a guy who is supposed to rival Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner in the future, were on home turf. O n the women’s side, Emma Navarro, world No 23 and climbing but less than a week after a third-round loss in Madrid, was seeking form in Lleida, Spain, in the WTA quasi-equivalent of a Challenger, a “125 event”. 

This is happening a lot nowadays, even though the tournaments usually have all the glitz and glamor that Phil’s Tire Town offers — which is to say, none. Their appeal to these kinds of players is, instead, part necessity and part invention, going in tandem with the effort by the ATP and WTA to elevate the Masters 1000 tournaments , which are one level below a Grand Slam event.

Inside tennis' corridors of power: A fractured hall of mirrors where nothing is as it seems

By expanding their draws and duration from a week to 12 days, the tours have sold more tickets and created more days of prime tournament television content. They have also poked some holes in top players’ schedules if they lose in early rounds.

Take Tiafoe, who showed up in Madrid the weekend before the midweek start of the tournament. Because the top 32 players get a first-round bye, he waited nearly a week to play his first match, which he lost to Cachin. His next scheduled tournament, the Italian Open, was still at least 10 days away. He was suddenly looking at a vacuum of a fortnight while 3,500 miles away from home. So off to Cagliari he went — with the luxury of a wildcard — along with mainstays like Musetti, compatriot Lorenzo Sonego, and fellow American Chris Eubanks.

The increasing frequency of this scenario creates a dilemma for the players who live these events. If players like Tiafoe et al miss the glamor of a roofed stadium, huge crowds or just somewhere to change that isn’t a portable toilet, then their opponents are trying for a taste of that rarefied air. Their routes in are winning — and winning a lot — on a Challenger Tour that is getting more and more competitive, or being blessed by the capricious wild-card system, whose sense of arbitrary glory is dimmed by a combination of soft nationalism, draw-stacking with as many known players as possible to sell more tickets, and the influence of companies such as IMG, which both run tournaments and represent talent.

Karue Sell, a tennis personality of some renown on YouTube who has returned to the pro game at 30 and is winning matches at the Porto Alegre Challenger in Brazil right now, says more wild cards should go to players who are in a rich vein of form on that tour, where the conditions (he’s not a fan of the balls in Brazil) and level of talent are a grind. Winning for two weeks is enough for a Grand Slam; why shouldn’t it be enough to get you into one?

How to fix tennis

Bernard Tomic, the Australian hot-headed tennis enigma, raised some eyebrows a few years ago when he said that there was little difference between a player ranked 60th and another ranked 250th.

He would not find a lot of people arguing today, at least in the men’s game.

Top players can drop down with little friction and going the other way is not so easy, but that doesn’t mean the elite are having it their own way. Improved competition has made lesser players better and the margins between rankings smaller.

Dominic Thiem, the 2020 U.S. Open champion who has struggled to get through a recurring wrist injury and motivational challenges, has spent plenty of weeks trying to find form on the Challenger Tour. It’s not gone well. Thiem is 2-3 in three Challenger events since November. Naomi Osaka, another former Grand Slam champion, was applauded for dropping down to play a WTA 250 (not even a Challenger) in Rouen because it showed seriousness about winning matches, the implication being that she was giving herself a chance to beat some also-rans. She lost in the round of 32.

“Everybody is playing really good tennis nowadays,” said Thiago Monteiro, a 29-year-old Brazilian.

Monteiro should know. He has spent much of his career bouncing between Challenger tournaments and the ATP Tour. He recently lost twice in eight days to someone named Orlando Luz, a 26-year-old Brazilian currently 333rd in the rankings, who has never climbed higher than world No 272.

Then Monteiro beat Stefanos Tsitispas, the world No 7, in Madrid’s second round, even though Tsitsipas had just made the final in Barcelona after winning the Monte Carlo Masters . Tsitispas knew he’d let down his guard against someone hungry and capable. He had forgotten the any-given-day dynamic every tennis player must respect.

Cachin, who beat Tiafoe then pushed Nadal to three sets, has had a similar trajectory to Monteiro, logging plenty of weeks at Challenger events across the world the past decade. He said the only real difference between solid ATP Tour players and those he faces in the Challenger events is consistency.

Plenty of players can raise their level for a set or three, or even five with a top player. They serve hard, rip forehands, and have moments of exquisite touch. They can look like superheroes on a practice court. But their bodies and brains don’t allow it day after day, tournament after tournament, year after year. 

“Can you be there all the time?” Cachin asked after his loss to Nadal. 

Most can’t, which is why they are eating bad food, staying in bad hotels and struggling to break even, knowing they might be one or two good weeks away from the big show. And nothing excites them more, Monteiro said, than when a top player shows up with his fancy bag and designer shirts, sleeves patched with the names of blue-chip companies. Here comes a chance to prove to themselves and the dozen or so people watching in the bleachers that they have the goods, at least for a few hours.

Monteiro said he has felt it from both sides, salivating at chances to play someone like Thiem on any court, at any time, while knowing that, as one of the top players in Brazil, he has a massive target on his back if he plays a home Challenger.

“ Didn’t do really well,” he said the other day in Madrid, still a bit haunted by the memory of losses in Sao Leo and Florianopolis in Brazil and Oeiras in Portugal.

“Everybody wants also to beat me.”

(Top photo: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images; Niko Tavernise/Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures; Mike Lawrence/ATP Tour)

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Matthew Futterman is an award-winning veteran sports journalist and the author of two books, “Running to the Edge: A Band of Misfits and the Guru Who Unlocked the Secrets of Speed” and “Players: How Sports Became a Business.”Before coming to The Athletic in 2023, he worked for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Star-Ledger of New Jersey and The Philadelphia Inquirer. He is currently writing a book about tennis, "The Cruelest Game: Agony, Ecstasy and Near Death Experiences on the Pro Tennis Tour," to be published by Doubleday in 2026. Follow Matthew on Twitter @ mattfutterman