This week’s main Challenger is in Leon, and veteran Victor Estrella Burgos of the Dominican Republic is the top seed. Burgos managed to retain his Quito Open title earlier in the year, but his form on hard courts is not as strong as his form on clay.
Estrella Burgos starts against American Dennis Novikov whose ranking has suffered a slide in the last year. The American was ranked close to the Top 100 a year ago but is now at No.176. Estrella Burgos’ seeded opponent for the quarter-finals is the in-form Jason Jung who reached the Guadalajara semi-finals last week (l. to Basic).
Another American, Ernesto Escobedo, is the second seed with the youngster taking on Mexican wildcard Manuel Sanchez in round one. Escobedo could face former Wimbledon semi-finalist Jerzy Janowicz in the second round. Janowicz also faces a local wildcard in Hans Hach Verdugo.
Vasek Pospisil and Stefan Kozlov are seeds three and four respectively, taking on Akira Santillan and a qualifier. Kozlov is seeded to meet Joao Souza in his quarter-final. Pospisil should meet sixth seed Tennys Sandgren, but the American has a tough first round match against alternate Mackenzie McDonald.
Guadalajara winner Mirza Basic is unseeded this week, and he starts against Marcelo Arevalo. Last week’s runner-up Denis Shapovalov is in the draw as a special exemption due to his impressive performances over the last two weeks. He starts with a qualifier, and could face top seed Estrella Burgos in the second round.
American Rajeev Ram, twice a former ATP winner in Newport and the recent doubles champion in Indian Wells, starts against compatriot Alexander Sarkissian.
