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Why to Watch the ATP Challenger Tour Finals

Nov 19th 2014

One of the most overlooked events on the tennis calendar is the Challenger Tour Finals. Part of this is because, well, they are Challenger level players. That isn't fair to the event, though. Most of the competitors in this event are either Challenger Tour staples–meaning journeymen who stick out a tennis career even though they can never really break the top 80—or up-and-comers who flew through Challengers throughout the year.

This is the fourth year of the tournament and the second year on clay. The change from hard courts to clay was arguably a mistake, since most of the highest-ranking Challenger level players are much better on hard courts. This leads to conflicts for the top qualifiers because the Challenger Tour Finals is by far the highest-paying tournament on the tour. And Challenger-level players are often notoriously strapped for cash, making this a very difficult payday to give up.

Guilherme Clezar

Still, the tournament usually brings in quality players and competition and often gives an insight into who is on their way up in the tennis world. And while things have not worked out so well for the three champions of the tournament so far (neither Cedrik Marcel-Stebe nor Guido Pella followed up with breakout years, and Filippo Volandri was underwhelming this year), that is not necessarily an indication of how meaningful this title will be in the future.

This year, for example, we have a pretty stacked and exciting lineup. Group A seems to have only the first type of player mentioned above. It features up-and-down longtime professional Simone Bolelli as well as Challenger Tour stalwart Maximo Gonzalez. Andreas Haider-Maurer and Victor Estrella-Burgos are both slowly making their way up in the tennis world, but both are clearly never going to be players who challenge for big titles in the future. Still, they are all good players and should provide some good tennis on this indoor clay surface.

Group B, though, is the one to watch. Containing Diego Sebastian Schwartzmann, Blaz Rola, Joao Souza, and Guilherme Clezar, this group is an excellent list of potential up-and-comers in the tennis world. Schwartzmann and Rola might be known in 2014 for getting blown out by top seeds in Grand Slams (by Djokovic at the US Open and Murray at Wimbledon, respectively), but these are two solid players who could definitely be in the top 50 before the end of next year. The Challenger Finals is the perfect place for them to get a bit of a cash boost as well as a huge confidence lift heading into 2015.

Clezar, though, who is pictured above, is the player who may be the most interesting to see here. He is the Brazilian wild card, since the tournament gets a wild card to complement the seven direct entries, and he has not had the best of years while trying to transition from the Futures level to Challengers. He had an excellent 2013, though, and last year he looked to be one of the fastest-rising players in tennis. He plays his best on clay, and this is an excellent chance for him to get back on track heading into 2015. He is a name to watch out for in the future if he can find his form again.

All of this aside, though, the Challenger Finals provides compelling tennis from players playing to the absolute best of their abilities. It might not be as high-quality as the World Tour Finals, but the format is set up to showcase the best tennis possible from these players. It's definitely worth watching, at least a little.