Challenger events are always considered important within tennis. They allow young players to make their first steps towards stardom, older players to hang on to the last vestiges of successful careers, and for players returning from long-term injury to rediscover their match fitness.
But it is arguable that no Challenger events are more important than those in the opening two weeks of the season. It is separate from the opening Grand Slam of the year, the Australian Open, by just a few weeks, and all players are as far removed from competitive match play than at any other point in the season. With this in mind, the opening ATP events of the year are always full of top players, even allowing for non-ATP-point events the Hopman Cup and the Kooyang Classic. Thus, the Challengers are massively important.
Some players who would qualify for ATP events note their unlikelihood of winning enough rounds to fell sufficiently match-fit and thus trade a higher level for what they believe a chance of simply gaining more matches under their belt. Adrian Mannarino appears to be one of these this year, as he is the top seed in Noumea. Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis is another known to favour Challenger events in recent years. These players have the luxury of knowing that they can probably, ultimately enter three events before they have to appear in Melbourne. This luxury is not however, one that is afforded to most of the players that make up Challenger events. They can perhaps only play one event before they must depart for Melbourne. For any player ranked outside around the one-hundred-and-five mark cannot be sure of their guaranteed entry to the main draw, and if that is not the case, and they have not been lucky enough to be awarded a wildcard, there is only one alternative left to them. The Australian Open Qualifying Event.
Each player must there advance through three consecutive rounds of matches just to take their place in what is a lucrative first round draw at a Grand Slam. The prize for just participating in the main draw of a Grand Slam equates to more than $25,ooo at each Major. In 2016 the Australian Open is the least lucrative, at $27,600. This can still equal as much as three Challenger winning purses in a single season. Prize money for advancing further still becomes eye-watering. The second round equals $45,500 and the third $71,000. These are all rounds that a qualifier can consistently reach. Indeed, further runs are not unheard of. In 2015 the furthest that any qualifier reached at the Australian Open was the second round, achieved by Mathias Bachinger, Marius Copil, and Tim Smyczek. Smyczek ended up playing one of the matches of the tournament in a five-set defeat to Rafael Nadal.
Thus the importance of the events that are due to take place starting Monday in Noumea, Happy Valley, Bangkok, are perhaps unique in the tennis calendar. The fourth challenger set to take place next week is set on clay in Mendoza, Argentina and is likely to have a lesser impact due to it taking place on a different surface to the hard plexicushion that the courts at Melbourne Park consist of.
Last year saw a case of a player succeeding in Happy Valley only to run out of steam. Ryan Harrison beat Blaz Rola, and Hyeon Chung, on his way to defeating former Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis in the final. He then lost to the soon to be banned Wayne Odesnik in the first round of qualifying.
Noumea,Happy Valley, and Bangkok represent the only chances for some players to build for what could be their biggest chance of a pay day for the whole year. Players will be eyeing their only chance to set the groundwork in a competitive field as they prepare for the first Grand Slam of the year. Challenger events are never more important than this week.
