We’ve seen plenty of players starting their tennis career off at ITF level in tennis, before slowly progressing through Challenger events, which are the final step before a player competes regularly on the ATP Tour.
Plenty of players have come through the Challenger Tour that have gone on to play at the highest level of tennis. The likes of Rafael Nadal, Carlos Alcaraz, Felix Auger-Aliassime, and Ben Shelton have all played at Challenger level, and have won titles at that level, before moving on to the ATP Tour, where they’ve gone to flourish ever since.
We’ll take a look at three players to watch heading towards the festive period, as they’re players that could soon be performing to a high standard on the ATP Tour.
Arthur Fery
The young Brit was a qualifier at a recent Challenger Tour tournament in Mouilleron-Le-Captif, France, but reached the final of the competition, before being beaten by the in-form Machač, Tomáš. Fery won’t have been many people’s favourite heading into that tournament, but beat the likes of Giulio Zeppieri and David Goffin, both of whom have played their tennis on the ATP Tour in the past.
It was a similar story to when Fery competed in Orleans, France in late September, as he worked his way through the early rounds of the competition, whilst beating the likes of Frederico Ferreira Silva and Marc-Andrea Huesler on his way to the quarter-finals, before being beaten by the experienced Frenchman, Richard Gasquet.
Fery is only 21, and has shown remarkable progress in recent weeks, and he’ll be hoping that he can continue to go from strength to strength moving forwards.
Abedallah Shelbayh
Shelbayh is a player that won’t have been heard of much if you were asked about him over a year ago, but he’s made strong progress through the ranking system in the last year, which has seen him pick up some titles along the way on the Challenger Tour.
The Jordan-born 19-year-old is a strong player on different surfaces, which can make him a tricky player to predict a lot of the time. He won a doubles title in Murcia, Spain with Daniel Rincon back in April 2023 on a clay court, but picked up a long overdue singles title on a hardcourt in early October.
He beat three Americans on his way to the title, which included Brandon Holt and Oliver Crawford. At the age of 19, he’s got plenty of room to develop in senior tennis, and it’ll be interesting to see how he copes moving forwards, especially in matches that he’ll head into as the favourite.
Flavio Cobolli
The young Italian is another player to keep an eye on in the near future, as he’s shown real quality on the Challenger Tour, and could soon be making the step up to the ATP Tour on a regular basis. The 21-year-old has been consistently strong in Challenger Tournaments for the last few months in particular, and he doesn’t show many signs of easing up on victories.
Cobolli reached the semi-finals of a recent tournament in Sibiu, Romania, but followed that up in impressive style, having won the Challenger 75 tournament in Lisbon, Portugal, where he only dropped a single set in the whole competition, which caught the eye for all the right reasons. He’s competing in Malaga, Spain in a Challenger event, and if he can replicate the form he’s shown in recent months, then he’ll be a tough player to come up against.
All of the players we’ve given an insight on will be hoping they can battle their way through qualifying at the next major tournament, which is the Australian Open, which is set to take place on 15th January 2024. BonusCodeBets are a great site to use if you’re looking for the best sign-up offers and recommended betting tips, and they’ve revealed the betting odds on bet365 for the upcoming Australian Open.
- Novak Djokovic @ 5/4
- Carlos Alcaraz @ 9/4
- Daniil Medvedev @ 9/2
- Nick Kygrios @ 8/1
- Stefanos Tsitsipas @ 12/1
- Jannik Sinner @ 14/1
- Rafael Nadal @ 14/1
- Holger Rune @ 18/1
- Casper Ruud @ 20/1
Odds displayed are correct as of 4:35 pm, Tuesday 10th October 2023. Odds are subject to change.
