ATP Challenger Tour
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The ATP Challenger Tour, known until the end of 2008 as the ATP Challenger Series, is a series of international men's professional tennis tournaments. The top tier of men's tennis is the ATP World Tour, Challenger Tour events are the second highest level of competition, and the Futures tournaments on the ITF Men's Circuit are the third and final tier of international professional competition. The ATP Challenger Tour is administered by the Association of Tennis Professionals. Players who succeed on the ATP Challenger Tour earn sufficient ranking points to become eligible for main draw or qualifying draw entry at ATP World Tour tournaments. Players on the Challenge Tour are either young players, those who fail to qualify for ATP events, or former ATP winners looking to get back into the big tour.
History of challenger events
The first challenger events were held in 1978, with eighteen events taking place. Two were held on the week beginning January 8, one in Auckland and another in Hobart. The next events were held one at a time beginning June 18 and ending August 18 in the following U.S. locations, in order: Shreveport, Birmingham, Asheville, Raleigh, Hilton Head, Virginia Beach, Wall, Cape Cod, and Lancaster.
Events continued after a one-month hiatus with two begun September 24 and 25, one in Tinton Falls, New Jersey and in Lincoln, Nebraska respectively. The following week saw one event played, in Salt Lake City, then two played simultaneously in Tel Aviv and San Ramon, California, then one played the following week in Pasadena. A final event was played a month later in Kyoto. In comparison, the 2008 schedule saw 178 events played in more than 40 countries.
Present-day prize money and ranking points
Challenger tournaments offer total prize money ranging from $40,000 up to $220,000+, which, along with whether the tournament provides hospitality (food and lodging) to the players, determines the number of points a player gets for winning each match in the tournament.
Hospitality bumps the points distribution up one level and the points to the overall winner range from 80 points for a $40,000 tournament to 125 points for a $220,000 tournament with hospitality. In contrast, the ATP-level tournaments offer total prize money from $400,000 to over $6 million and points to the overall winners from 250 to 2000.
As a point of reference, player rankings are based on points accumulated in the previous 52 weeks, and as of February 2016, a player who has earned 550 points in the last 52 weeks would be ranked just below the 100th position. 250 points would get him a ranking just below 200th, while with 100 points he would get to around 425th, and 50 points would put him just below 600th. So rankings points earned in Challengers can help a player to move up in the rankings quickly.
Player quality
Players have usually had success at the Futures tournaments of the ATP Tour before competing in Challengers. Due to the lower level of points and money available at the Challenger level, most players in a Challenger have a world ranking of 100 to 500 for a $35K tournament and 50 to 250 for a $150K tournament.
An exception happens during the second week of a Grand Slam tournament, when top-100 players who have already lost in the Slam try to take a wild card entry into a Challenger tournament beginning that second week.
Tretorn Serie+
In February 2007, Tretorn became the official ball of the Challenger Series, and the sponsor of a new series consisting of those Challenger tournaments with prize money of $100,000 or more. They renewed the sponsorship with the ATP in 2010 and extend it all the way through until the end of 2011.
List of events
Events on the tour have included:
- Aberto de Brasília
- Aberto de Florianópolis
- Aberto de São Paulo
- Aberto de Tênis do Rio Grande do Sul
- Aberto Santa Catarina De Tenis
- Adidas International Gimcheon
- Aegon GB Pro-Series Bath
- Aegon GB Pro-Series Glasgow
- Aegon Nottingham Challenge
- Aegon Pro-Series Loughborough
- Aegon Trophy
- Alessandria Challenger
- All Japan Indoor Tennis Championships
- Almaty Cup
- Antonio Savoldi–Marco Cò – Trofeo Dimmidisì
- AON Open Challenger
- Aspria Tennis Cup
- Astana Cup
- ATP Challenger Bergamo
- ATP Challenger China International – Nanchang
- ATP Challenger San Benedetto
- ATP Challenger Tour Finals
- ATP Challenger Trophy
- ATP China International Tennis Challenge
- ATP Roller Open
- ATP Salzburg Indoors
- Banja Luka Challenger
- Bauer Watertechnology Cup
- Beijing International Challenger
- BH Telecom Indoors
- BH Tennis Open International Cup
- Black Forest Open
- BMW Tennis Championship
- BNP Paribas Primrose Bordeaux
- BRD Arad Challenger
- BRD Brașov Challenger
- BRD Sibiu Challenger
- BRD Timișoara Challenger
- Busan Open Challenger Tennis
- Cachantún Cup (ATP)
- Cairo Open
- Caloundra International
- Camparini Gioielli Cup
- Campeonato Internacional de Tênis do Estado do Pará
- Challenger ATP de Salinas Diario Expreso
- Challenger Banque Nationale de Drummondville
- Challenger Banque Nationale de Granby
- Challenger Britania Zavaleta
- Challenger Ciudad de Guayaquil
- Challenger La Manche
- Challenger of Dallas
- Chang-Sat Bangkok Open
- Charles Sturt Adelaide International
- Charlottesville Men's Pro Challenger
- Città di Caltanissetta
- Città di Como Challenger
- Citta' di Vercelli - Trofeo Multimed
- Comerica Bank Challenger
- Concurso Internacional de Tenis – San Sebastián
- Concurso Internacional de Tenis – Vigo
- Copa Agco Cordoba
- Copa Internacional de Tenis Total Digest
- Copa Petrobras Santiago
- Copa San Juan Gobierno
- Copa Topper
- Dallas Tennis Classic
- Dunlop World Challenge
- Ethias Trophy
- Fergana Challenger
- Franken Challenge
- Geneva Open Challenger
- Green World ATP Challenger
- Guzzini Challenger
- Honolulu Challenger
- Internationaux de Nouvelle-Calédonie
- Internationaux de Tennis de BLOIS
- Internationaux de Tennis de Vendée
- Internazionali di Monza E Brianza
- Internazionali di Tennis Castel del Monte
- Internazionali di Tennis dell'Umbria
- Internazionali Tennis Val Gardena Südtirol
- Intersport Heilbronn Open
- IPP Open
- Irving Tennis Classic
- IS Open
- IS Open de Tenis
- Jalisco Open
- JSM Challenger of Champaign–Urbana
- Karshi Challenger
- Kazan Kremlin Cup
- Kazan Summer Cup
- Keio Challenger
- Knoxville Challenger
- Košice Open
- Kunming Challenger
- Launceston Tennis International
- Lermontov Cup
- Levene Gouldin & Thompson Tennis Challenger
- Lexington Challenger
- Lima Challenger
- Torneo Omnia Tenis Ciudad Madrid
- Manta Open
- I Marbella Open
- Marburg Open
- Maserati Challenger
- MasterCard Tennis Cup
- McDonald's Burnie International
- Mersin Cup
- Mordovia Cup
- Morelos Open
- Morocco Tennis Tour – Casablanca
- Morocco Tennis Tour – Marrakech
- Morocco Tennis Tour – Meknes
- Morocco Tennis Tour – Rabat
- Morocco Tennis Tour – Tanger
- Natomas Men's Professional Tennis Tournament
- Nature's Way Sydney Tennis International
- Nielsen Pro Tennis Championships
- Ningbo International Women's Tennis Open
- Oberstaufen Cup
- Odlum Brown Vancouver Open
- OEC Kaohsiung
- Open Barletta Trofeo Dimiccoli & Boraccino
- Open BNP Paribas Banque de Bretagne
- Open Castilla y León
- Open d'Orléans
- Open de Rennes
- Open Diputación Ciudad de Pozoblanco
- Open Tarragona Costa Daurada
- Orange Open Guadeloupe
- Orbetello Challenger
- Pekao Szczecin Open
- Penza Cup
- Peugeot Tennis Cup
- Poznań Open
- President's Cup (tennis)
- Prosperita Open
- PTT İstanbul Cup
- Quito Challenger
- Rai Open
- Rijeka Open
- Rio Quente Resorts Tennis Classic
- Riviera di Rimini Challenger
- Roma Open
- Saint-Brieuc Challenger
- Samarkand Challenger
- Samsung Securities Cup
- San Luis Potosí Challenger
- San Marino CEPU Open
- Sanremo Tennis Cup
- Santaizi ATP Challenger
- Santos Brasil Tennis Open
- Sarasota Open
- Savannah Challenger
- SDA Tennis Open
- Seguros Bolívar Open Barranquilla
- Seguros Bolívar Open Bogotá
- Seguros Bolívar Open Bucaramanga
- Seguros Bolívar Open Cali
- Seguros Bolívar Open Medellín
- Seguros Bolívar Open Pereira
- Copa Sevilla
- Shanghai Challenger
- Siberia Cup
- Sicilia Classic
- Singapore ATP Challenger
- Slovak Open
- Soweto Open
- Sparkassen Open
- Sporting Challenger
- Status Athens Open
- Svijany Open
- São Léo Open
- Tallahassee Tennis Challenger
- Tampere Open
- Taroii Open de Tênis
- Tashkent Challenger
- TEAN International
- Tennis Napoli Cup
- Tennislife Cup
- Tetra Pak Tennis Cup
- The Hague Open
- Tianjin Health Industry Park
- Tiburon Challenger
- Tilia Slovenia Open
- Torneo Internacional AGT
- Torneo de Mendoza
- Trani Cup
- Tretorn SERIE+ tournaments
- Trofeo Paolo Corazzi
- Trophée des Alpilles
- Tunis Open
- Türk Telecom İzmir Cup
- UniCredit Czech Open
- Uruguay Open
- USTA LA Tennis Open
- Visit Panamá Cup
- Volkswagen Challenger
- Wrocław Open
- Wuhai Challenger
- Yeongwol Challenger Tennis
- Yugra Cup
- Zagreb Open
See also
References
- ATP 2010 Tretorn SERIE+
- Entry Points and Prize Money Table
- US Open Prize Money
- Challengers not during the 2nd Week of a Grand Slam
- Challenger Example from 2nd Week of French Open
- Article mentioning Agassi's Las Vegas Challenger
- Overview from ATPtennis.com