Riedi continues Challenger run, earns 2nd title of 2024

FPT/Sara Falcao

It has been a January to remember for Swiss Leandro Riedi, who on Sunday claimed his second ATP Challenger Tour title of the season. The 21-year-old, who won the Oeiras Indoor 2 earlier this month, returned to the winners’ circle by claiming the BW Open in Belgium.

Riedi advanced through qualifying and won seven matches in eight days to lift his fourth Challenger crown, ousting top seed Borna Coric 7-5, 6-2 in the final.

“Crazy week, speechless. Very happy to win my 2nd challenger title in singles this year,” Riedi wrote in an Instagram post following his triumph in Ottignies-Louvain-La-Neuve.

Riedi’s victory against World No. 40 Coric marked the highest-ranked win of his career. The 6’3” Swiss, who collected back-to-back Challenger titles in November 2022 (Helsinki, Andria) has won 12 of his 13 matches this year.

In other ATP Challenger action, Blaise Bicknell became just the second Jamaican Challenger champion by capturing the Southern California Open 2. Competing in his second Challenger final, the 22-year-old cruised past home hope Zachary Svajda 6-3, 6-2 in the title match at Indian Wells Tennis Garden, home of the BNP Paribas Open.

Bicknell joins Dustin Brown as Jamaican-born champions in ATP Challenger Tour history (since 1978). Brown won eight titles at that level from 2009 to 2019.

“It feels incredible,” said Bicknell, who is at a career-high No. 319 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. “Me and my team put in the hard work. This is definitely the biggest win rankings-wise of my career. I served great today.”

^{Blaise Bicknell wins his maiden ATP Challenger Tour title at the Southern California Open 2. Credit: Lexie Wanninger}

Bicknell, who moved to a tennis academy in Miami at age 15, is the latest college tennis product to be excelling at the next level. Bicknell competed for two seasons at the University of Florida, the same team that featured World No. 16 Ben Shelton and in 2021, Bicknell transferred to the University of Tennessee, where he played the last two seasons.

Svajda, 21, was aiming to extend his perfect 4-0 record in Challenger finals. The California-native was also bidding to become the youngest American to win five Challenger titles.

Italian Gianluca Mager rallied past Thiago Agustin Tirante 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-0 in the Punta del Este Challenger final to capture his sixth title at that level and first since March 2022.

^{Gianluca Mager in action at the Punta del Este Challenger, where he won the title. Credit: Santiago Montero}

The 29-year-old advanced through qualifying en route to the title in Uruguay, where he won seven matches in eight days. The former World No. 62 has won six consecutive Challenger finals after falling short in his first championship match appearance in 2018.

“After the first set, I tried to stay focussed on my serve and push the ball a little stronger,” Mager said about the final. “It was very difficult, he played very good. I started to [hit] my backhand [better].”

In France, home favourite Pierre-Hugues Herbert was crowned champion at the Open Quimper Bretagne Occidentale, his first singles title since 2016. The 32-year-old defeated Croatian Duje Ajdukovic 6-3, 6-2 in the final.

Herbert, who has been as high as No. 36, ended his four-match final skid across all levels. Four of his five Challenger titles have come on home soil, including two in Quimper (2014, 2024).

^{Pierre-Hugues Herbert wins the ATP Challenger 125 event in Quimper, France. Credit: Nicolas Averty}