Five Challenger Tour Players To Watch At Wimbledon
ATPTour.com looks at five ATP Challenger Tour players to keep your eyes on during Wimbledon.
Max Purcell
The Australian has lit up the Challenger circuit this season, boasting a 34-7 match record at that level. Purcell has competed in six Challenger finals in 2023 and enjoyed a 15-match winning streak in February, when he triumphed at Challengers in Chennai, Bengaluru and Pune.
The World No. 64 is now in position to compete in more ATP Tour events and will next aim to continue his breakthrough year at the season’s third major. Part of what makes Purcell a tricky opponent on grass is his unique style of play, which he will put on display against seventh seed Andrey Rublev in the opening round.
“I don’t see anyone hitting slice forehands like I do, so I think that’s pretty unique,” Purcell told ATPTour.com earlier this year. “I don’t think you see many singles guys volleying as well as I do, from all the doubles [I’ve played]. Big emphasis on coming to the net when I can and when I do come to the net, making sure I pull off some good volleys.”
Last year, the 25-year-old Purcell partnered countryman Matthew Ebden at Wimbledon and went on a dream title run to win the men’s doubles crown. Five of their six matches went the distance, including the championship match against Croatians Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic.
Dominic Stricker
The World No. 117 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, who was crowned champion at this year’s Rovereto and Prague Challengers, is the only Swiss player to win five Challenger titles before his 21st birthday.
The lefty will look to build on his momentum at Wimbledon, where he meets Australian Alexei Popyrin in the first round. Should Stricker advance in his SW19 debut, it would be his first Grand Slam main-draw victory.
The former junior World No. 3 was a semi-finalist at last year’s Next Gen ATP Finals and is eligible for the 21-and-under event again this year. Stricker is currently eighth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Next Gen Race.
Matteo Arnaldi
The 22-year-old advanced through qualifying as the top seed and will face Spaniard Roberto Carballes Baena in the first round. Arnaldi has collected a trio of Challenger titles this season, including last month in Heilbronn, where the Italian rose to a career-high No. 72 following his triumph.
Arnaldi relied on his lethal forehand to earn his first Top-10 win at the Mutua Madrid Open, where he downed third seed Casper Ruud in what he described as the “best match of my life”. The Sanremo-native is making his Wimbledon debut.
Sebastian Ofner
The Austrian has tallied a 30-12 Challenger record this season and has competed in five Challenger finals. Following a finalist finish two weeks ago at the grass-court Ilkley Challenger, Ofner was awarded a wild card into Wimbledon. The 27-year-old will next aim to back up his surprise run at Roland Garros, where he reached the fourth round as a qualifier and sealed his Top 100 debut.
In 2017, Ofner made his first Grand Slam tournament appearance at the All England Club and upset 17th seed Jack Sock en route to the third round. Ofner will bid for another run when he starts on Tuesday against World No. 36 Jiri Lehecka.
Shintaro Mochizuki
A former junior No. 1, Mochizuki became the first Japanese male player in history to win a major boys’ singles title at Wimbledon in 2019.
The #NextGenATP star has since graduated to the ATP Challenger Tour, where he won his maiden title in April at the Barletta Challenger. The then-19-year-old became the third Japanese teenager to win a Challenger title, joining Kei Nishikori (Bermuda 2008) and Yoshihito Nishioka (Shanghai 2014).
The Kawasaki-native will look for the biggest win of his career in the first round when he meets 16th seed Tommy Paul.