![\"Rafael](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/jodar-usopen-2024.jpg\")
<\/p>\n Challenger
\n Rafa Jodar, 2024 US Open junior champ, wins first Challenger title in 9th outing<\/p>\n
Svrcina triumphs to crack Top 100<\/p>\n
August 18, 2025<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Matthew Stockman\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
Rafael Jodar, pictured above at the 2024 US Open boys’ singles event, won his first Challenger title on Saturday.
\n By ATP Staff<\/p>\n
Nearly a year on from winning the US Open<\/a> junior title, Rafael Jodar<\/a> captured his maiden ATP Challenger Tour crown on Saturday at the Hersonissos Challenger 3<\/a>.<\/p>\n \nThe 18-year-old Spaniard, who is entering his sophomore season at the University of Virginia, was competing in just his ninth outing at the Challenger level. In the main draw as an alternate, the #NextGenATP teen showed no signs of nerves, storming to the milestone victory with a 6-4, 6-2 final victory against Frenchman Dan Added<\/a>.<\/p>\n \nLast September, Jodar lifted the US Open<\/a> boys\u2019 singles crown in dramatic fashion, edging Nicolai Budkov Kjaer<\/a> in a 10-point tie-break at 6-6 in the third set to decide the championship.<\/p>\n The Madrid native earned ITA All-American honours during his first season at the University of Virginia and qualified for the ATP Next Gen Accelerator<\/a>, a programme that aims to increase the development pathway for top players in the American collegiate system to earn direct entry into select Challenger events.<\/p>\n \nJodar, 18th in the PIF ATP Live Race To Jeddah, is competing in Hersonissos again this week.<\/p>\n \nIn other Challenger action, Dalibor Svrcina<\/a> and Timofey Skatov<\/a> survived marathon finals to return to the winner\u2019s circle.<\/p>\n \nThe 22-year-old Svrcina won the inaugural Europcar Cancun Country Club<\/a> in Mexico to make his Top 100 debut in the PIF ATP Rankings. The Czech escaped Thiago Agustin Tirante<\/a> 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 after a nervy three hours and 21 minutes, during which Svrcina led 6-4, 4-0 before the Argentine mounted a comeback.<\/p>\n \nA five-time Challenger champion, including three triumphs this season, Svrcina is up 17 places to a career-high No. 98.<\/p>\n \nSkatov, a runner-up at last week\u2019s Bonn Challenger, went one step further to claim his third trophy at that level at the Internazionali di Tennis Citta di Todi. The 24-year-old fought off Stefano Travaglia<\/a> 7-6(4), 0-6, 6-2 in a two-hour, 44-minute final.<\/p>\n \nZdenek Kolar<\/a> did not drop a set all week at the Genesis Traiding Cup<\/a> in Sofia, Bulgaria, where the 28-year-old earned his fifth Challenger title and first since April 2023.<\/p>\n \nWorld No. 74 Mattia Bellucci<\/a> won the Serve First Open<\/a> in Sumter, South Carolina to collect his fourth Challenger crown. The 24-year-old Italian led Alexander Shevchenko<\/a> 7-6(5), 3-1 when the Kazakh retired due to a right knee injury.<\/p>\n \nBriton Arthur Fery<\/a> triumphed at the Kia Open<\/a> in Barranquilla, Colombia to capture his maiden Challenger trophy. Fery\u2019s final opponent, former No. 17 Bernard Tomic<\/a>, withdrew ahead of the championship match, which was moved from Saturday to Sunday due to rain. <\/p>\n \nFery, 23, is a former standout player for Stanford University who is now No. 237 in the PIF ATP Rankings, eight spots shy of tying his career high.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Challenger Rafa Jodar, 2024 US Open junior champ, wins first Challenger title in 9th outing Svrcina triumphs to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":92422,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[72],"tags":[99,428],"class_list":{"0":"post-92421","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tennis","8":"tag-sports","9":"tag-tennis"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92421","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92421"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92421\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/92422"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92421"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92421"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92421"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Cancun](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/cancunch-2025-venue.jpg\")
A full crowd watches the Cancun Challenger final between Dalibor Svrcina<\/a> and Thiago Agustin Tirante<\/a>. Credit: ImagenShop<\/p>\nTimofey Skatov celebrates winning the Todi Challenger.” style=”width: 100%;” src=”https:\/\/www.atptour.com\/-\/media\/images\/news\/2025\/08\/18\/13\/43\/skatov-todich-2025.jpg”>
Timofey Skatov<\/a> celebrates winning the Todi Challenger. Credit: Yuri Serafini<\/p>\nMattia Bellucci wins the Sumter Challenger.” style=”width: 100%;” src=”https:\/\/www.atptour.com\/-\/media\/images\/news\/2025\/08\/18\/13\/29\/bellucci-sumterch-2025.jpg”>
Mattia Bellucci<\/a> wins the Sumter Challenger. Credit: Greybird Media\/Serve First Open<\/a><\/p>\n