Challenger Tour History: Argentina's 21 Titles This Season... And Counting
Tennis is largely an individual sport. But Argentine players on the ATP Challenger Tour have been playing with a sense of team spirit in the second half of the season, chasing history for their proud sporting nation.
The South American country, which boasts great sportsmen such as Lionel Messi, Diego Maradona, Manu Ginóbili, Juan Martin del Potro, and Guillermo Vilas, has a crop of Challenger Tour players who have proven to be unstoppable.
“We have a nice group of players at the moment,” Facundo Bagnis told ATPTour.com. “We have young players, those that entered the Top 100 for the first time this year, those that qualified for Grand Slams for the first time, and even the older guys like me [laughs].”
Players from Argentina have combined to make Challenger Tour history this year, collecting 21 Challenger titles, marking the most titles by a single country in a season.
Juan Manuel Cerundolo (left) and Camilo Ugo Carabelli at the 2022 Buenos Aires-2 Challenger in October. Credit: Manuel Cortina
Heading into this past weekend, Argentina was tied with France at 19 Challenger titles this year. The previous record for most Challengers by a single country in a season, 20, has been reached four times. (France in 2005, Argentina in 2007, 2016, 2021). After tying the record for a third time in 2021, Argentine players set their sights on attempting to stand alone at the top of the Challenger Tour record books.
On Sunday, Juan Manuel Cerundolo was crowned champion at the Coquimbo Challenger while Bagnis secured the record-breaking 21st title by winning the Ambato Challenger.
“When the match finished and they told me the record, it was an amazing feeling,” Bagnis said. “Argentina will always be at the top levels of global tennis and today, with even more tournaments close to home in South America, we are grateful for this and have taken advantage of all the opportunities.”
Pedro Cachin, 27, holds a season-leading four Challenger titles (tied w/ Jack Draper) and is the only Argentine with more than two titles this season. Cachin, World No. 55, won titles in Madrid, Prague, Todi, and Santo Domingo.
“Most Challenger titles in a year is incredible.” Cachin said. “It's amazing to have such an opportunity for all the players to be a part of something special like that. It is not easy for our players to travel the world, going very far from home, but to have this achievement makes it all worth it.
“Especially for the younger guys, to see that Argentina has the ability and potential to win many titles. Hopefully this will increase the enthusiasm of players from Argentina to play this great sport. For us, it is a privilege to be a part of this great moment. The guys have worked hard and their talent is now showing.”
Buenos Aires native Camilo Ugo Carabelli is one of five Argentines to win multiple Challenger titles this season. Bagnis, Cachin, Cerundolo, and Francisco Comesana have also claimed at least two Challenger titles each. Ugo Carabelli, 23, broke the Top 100 for the first time in August and claimed the title at the Buenos Aires-1 and Lima-1 Challengers.
“I’m very happy for our country,” Ugo Carabelli said. “We put in a lot of effort and it’s a great award. There are many Argentines playing Challengers, new players appear all the time, they all play at a high level. The fact that players continue to emerge speaks well for us.”
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#NextGenATP star Cerundolo has won 12 of his past 13 matches, including collecting the titles at the Buenos Aires-2 and Coquimbo-2 Challengers. When ‘Juanma’ won on home soil earlier this month, the 20-year-old became the 14th Argentine champion this year, tying a Challenger Tour record for the most different winners from a single country in a season (USA in 2006, France in 2011).
“To win 21 titles is incredible for Argentina,” Cerundolo said. “It means a lot. It shows that everything we have done to grow tennis in Argentina is working.”
La Plata native Tomas Martin Etcheverry, who reached a career-high No. 72 in July, is a three-time Challenger finalist this year. At the Concepcion-2 Challenger in March, the 23-year-old was crowned champion to add his name in the mix of Argentine champions in 2022.
Tomas Martin Etcheverry in action at the 2022 Parma Challenger. Credit: Daniele Combi
“I give thanks to ‘el Pulga’ [Horacio de La Peña] for giving us a lot of tournaments in South America,” Etcheverry said. “We have chances to play a lot of tournaments close to home. We are very happy about this achievement [21 Challenger titles].”
De La Peña, former World No. 31 from Buenos Aires, serves as director of the Circuito Dove Men+Care Legión Sudamericana, which is a series of Challenger tournaments held in South America. De La Peña’s aim in directing the series, which began in 2021, has been to give South American players more opportunities to develop their game.
With six weeks left in the Challenger Tour season, Argentine players will attempt to strengthen their lead in the record books before setting their sights on surpassing their own record for a second straight year in 2023.
Did You Know?
In the 45-year-history of the ATP Challenger Tour, Argentina has had a total of 366 Challenger champions, second-most behind USA (472).