Tiafoe, Fognini could clash in Cagliari Challenger second round

Frances Tiafoe and Lorenzo Musetti headline this week’s ATP Challenger Tour 175 event in Cagliari, Italy, where the top-seeded American could face home favourite Fabio Fognini in the second round.

Tiafoe, 26, received a wild card into the Sardegna Open, where 15 players inside the Top 100 of the PIF ATP Rankings are set to be in action. Argentine Mariano Navone, Christopher Eubanks, Lorenzo Sonego, Yoshihito Nishioka and #NextGenATP star Alex Michelsen are also among the draw. Tiafoe starts against Fognini or Federico Coria.

Cagliari is not the only ATP Challenger Tour 175 tournament being held this week. At the Open Aix Provence Credit Agricole in southern France, Adrian Mannarino, Tomas Martin Etcheverry, Alejandro Tabilo and Roman Safiullin are the top four seeds, respectively.

Mannarino could meet countryman and former World No. 7 Richard Gasquet in the second round at the clay-court event. Stan Wawrinka, Marcos Giron and Brandon Nakashima are also among the 17 Top 100 players in the Aix-en-Provence field.

ATP Challenger Tour 175 events are held during the second week of select ATP Masters 1000 tournaments, therefore often bringing in Top 50 talent. The tournament category debuted last year in Phoenix, where Portugal's Nuno Borges successfully defended his 2023 title last month.

Fans can live stream both the Cagliari and Aix-en-Provence Challengers for free on Challenger TV. Main-draw action kicks off Tuesday, 30 April.

Did You Know?
In 2023, Andy Murray defeated Tommy Paul in the Aix-en-Provence championship to capture his first clay-court title at any level since 2016. Ugo Humbert lifted the Cagliari Challenger trophy and has since climbed more than 60 spots in the PIF ATP Rankings, hitting a career-high No. 13 this month.