Phoenix, Arizona is known to be scorching hot. And next month, the ATP Challenger Tour will bring the heat to the Arizona Tennis Classic, the first event of the newly created Challenger 175 category.
Six Top-50 players are set to play the Phoenix Challenger, which begins March 13. Main-draw action will kick off following the third round of the BNP Paribas Masters in Indian Wells. Several high-ranked players who lose early at the ATP Masters 1000 event are expected to play in Phoenix before continuing onto Miami to complete the ‘Sunshine Double’.
Players who will compete in Phoenix unless they are still alive in the Indian Wells draw, include Botic Van de Zandschulp, Sebastian Baez, Richard Gasquet, Jack Draper, Marc-Andrea Huesler, and Alexander Bublik.
Van de Zandschulp, World No. 34, is the highest-ranked player in the Phoenix field. In 2022, the Dutchman earned a career-best 38 tour-level wins, including victories over Cameron Norrie, Taylor Fritz, and Bublik to help his home country qualify for the Davis Cup Finals knock-out stage.
Nobody finished 2022 with a better winning percentage on the Challenger Tour this past season than Great Britain’s Draper. The 21-year-old boasted a 24-4 Challenger match-winning record in and collected a season-leading four Challenger titles (tied w/ Pedro Cachin, who will also be in Phoenix): Forli-2, Forli-4, Forli-5, and Saint-Brieuc. The lefty, who has since reached the semi-finals of two ATP 250 events (Eastbourne & Adelaide-2), will return to the Challenger circuit in Arizona.
Jiri Lehecka, who was a quarter-finalist at the 2023 Australian Open, will also compete in Arizona. A three-time Challenger titlist, the Czech was a finalist at the 2022 Next Gen ATP Finals, which showcases the world’s best 21-and-under players.
Chinese star and World No. 61 Wu Yibing, who won the 2023 Dallas Open, will also be in action at the outdoor hard-court event. The 23-year-old won a trio of Challenger titles in 2022 before becoming the first tour-level titlist from China.
Did You Know?
Phoenix Challenger entrants Benjamin Bonzi and Sebastian Baez each claimed six Challenger titles in 2021. Only Tallon Griekspoor has collected more Challenger titles in a single season (eight, 2021).
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