Challenger Q2: #NextGenATP teens Schwaerzler, Debru shine

Joel Schwaerzler and Gabriel Debru headlined a handful of young stars to enjoy a standout second quarter on the ATP Challenger Tour. The #NextGenATP teens lifted their maiden ATP Challenger Tour titles and became the youngest champions of 2024 at that level.

ATPTour.com looks at some of the key moments on the ATP Challenger Tour from Q2:

#NextGenATP Champions:
The Austrian Schwaerzler entered the record books at the Skopje Challenger, where he became just the fourth player to win an ATP Challenger Tour title while holding the Junior No. 1 ranking. Nick Kyrgios, Taylor Fritz and Wu Yibing previously accomplished the feat. “I was kind of surprised. I knew I could win matches there, but to actually win the tournament is something different,” said the 18-year-old Schwaerzler, the youngest Challenger champion this season.

Debru, 18, became the youngest French Challenger champion since 2017 by winning in Troyes. The only Frenchmen to win a Challenger title at a younger age than Debru are Richard Gasquet, Fabrice Santoro, Gael Monfils and Corentin Moutet.

Youngest ATP Challenger Tour champions in 2024

Learner Tien’s marathon effort at the Bloomfield Hills Challenger came with a great reward. The 18-year-old, who needed a deciding set in all five of his matches, became the youngest American Challenger champion since 2016, when an 18-year-old Frances Tiafoe won in Granby, Canada.

Arthur Fils triumphed on home soil in Bordeaux, France, one of five ATP Challenger 175 events, the highest category at that level. “It was a perfect week for me,” said Fils, first in the PIF ATP Live Race To Jeddah. The 20-year-old is aiming for a return trip to the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF, where he was a finalist last year.

Peruvian Gonzalo Bueno scored his second ATP Challenger Tour title of the season in Concepcion. The 20-year-old is eighth in the PIF ATP Live Rankings To Jeddah.

Stepping Up:
Three players have won titles on both the ATP Challenger Tour and ATP Tour this season: Alejandro Tabilo, Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard and Luciano Darderi. The Chilean Tabilo was crowned champion at the 175 tournament in Aix-en-Provence, France a week before his Rome upset of then World No. 1 Novak Djokovic. Tabilo built upon his momentum and claimed his second tour-level crown in Mallorca, having also won in Auckland this season.

Mpetshi Perricard quickly garnered the attention of the tennis world in the second quarter of 2024. The 6’8” Frenchman enjoyed back-to-back titles in Mexico and a month later, he capped a dream run at his home tournament, the ATP 250 event in Lyon. Mpetshi Perricard saved a championship point against Tomas Martin Etcheverry to lift his maiden tour-level title.

‘Gio’ reached the fourth round of Wimbledon as a lucky loser, including a first-round five-set victory, during which Mpetshi Perricard hammered 51 aces, against 20th seed Sebastian Korda.

Darderi, who won the Cordoba ATP 250 in February, was dominant in winning the Perugia Challenger last month. The 22-year-old did not drop a set all week and ascended to a career-high No. 34 after becoming the first Italian to win in Perugia across nine editions of the tournament.

Comesana, Walton Crack Top 100:
Argentine Francisco Comesana and Australian Adam Walton made their Top 100 breakthrough after entering the winners’ circle. Comesana, who stunned Andrey Rublev in the first round of Wimbledon, won the Oeiras Challenger in April to secure a double-digit ranking next to his name. Walton became a part of that elite group after winning the Taipei Challenger.

Shang Juncheng, Zizou Bergs and Mpetshi Perricard also made their Top 100 debuts this quarter.

Title Leaders:
Resurgent players such as Lloyd Harris and Damir Dzumhur are among five men to win three ATP Challenger Tour titles this season. Harris, 27, returned to the Top 100 of the PIF ATP Rankings for the first time in 21 months following his maiden grass-court title at the Surbiton Challenger. In April, the South African collected back-to-back titles in Asia. Dzumhur continued his pursuit of a Top 100 return with title runs in Barletta, Ostrava and Zagreb.

Valentin Vacherot, Jozef Kovalik and Mpetshi Perricard have also earned a trio of ATP Challenger Tour titles in 2024.

Fast Facts:

• Match wins leader: Adam Walton (30).
• Highest win percentage: Valentin Vacherot (87.5).
• France leads all countries with 16 titles.
• Francesco Passaro became the first player since Robin Soderling in 2009 (Sunrise) to defeat five Top 100 players en route to a Challenger trophy (Turin).
• The Cagliari final (Mariano Navone d. Lorenzo Musetti) marked the first ATP Challenger Tour title match between two Top 50 players since 2009, when No. 26 Robin Soderling defeated No. 22 Tomas Berdych in Sunrise.
• Cagliari champion Navone became the first player in the Open Era to be seeded in his first major main draw (Roland Garros).
• With Tabilo's upset against Djokovic in Rome, the 27-year-old became the sixth player since 2010 to win an ATP Challenger Tour title and down a World No. 1 in the same season. Tabilo joined Luca Nardi as players to achieve the feat this year.
• Mpetshi Perricard joined Richard Gasquet, Ugo Humbert and Corentin Moutet as the only French players to win four Challenger titles before their 21st birthday.
• Ergi Kirkin became the fourth Turkish Challenger champion with his triumph in Porto Alegre, joining Altug Celikbilek, Cem Ilkel and Marsel Ilhan.
• Nick Hardt became the second Challenger champion from Dominican Republic (Victor Estrella Burgos) by winning in Madrid.