It was a case of a number of potential future stars featuring in the Noumea Challenger in New Caledonia on Wednesday. Former ATP Star of Tomorrow winner Taylor Fritz was one such player in action.
Fritz faced compatriot Kevin King, who was looking to push his ranking into the Top 200 with a strong run here. Fritz managed to deny him, though it took a scoreline of 7-6, 5-7, 6-4 and 2 hours and 20 minutes to do so.
He is joined by 4th seed Casper Ruud, The young Norwegian had been tipped by many to be a big star. However, he didn’t manage to break the Top 100 in 2017 like many had expected him to, suffering a drop in form. Ruud is 2-0 in 2018 so far though, as he defeated Roland Garros Junior winner Geoffrey Blancaneaux 6-2, 6-3. It is the first time since September last year that Ruud has registered back-to-back wins. Still just 19, Ruud could easily break into the Top 100 this year, and could be considered as a candidate to feature in the Next Gen Finals.
Britain’s Cameron Norrie is another aiming to break into the Top 100 for the first time. The Texas-based player came close in 2017 after winning three Challenger titles, but fell just short. Norrie, as in the first round, overcame a slow start to defeat France’s Vincent Millot 5-7, 6-2, 6-0.
6th seeded Frenchman Gleb Sakharov defeated veteran compatriot Stephane Rober 6-1, 6-4, and was joined by 7th seed Kenny De Schepper, who was the victor over qualifier Alejandro Gonzalez 6-1, 6-2. Tim Puetz also reached the quarter-finals courtesy of a 7-5, 6-1 win over Hubert Hurkacz.
