Former college No. 1 Spizzirri wins first Challenger title; Coric returns to winner's circle

American Eliot Spizzirri claimed his maiden ATP Challenger Tour title Sunday at the San Diego Open, where he defeated former No. 37 Mackenzie McDonald 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 in the final.

A runner-up in Tiburon, California last October and in Cleveland, Ohio this January, the third time was the charm for Spizzirri, who is now at a career-high No. 144 in the PIF ATP Rankings.

Spizzirri finished back-to-back years (2023, 2024) as the No. 1 player in the ITA singles rankings, competing for the University of Texas. The 23-year-old graduated last May and has since made a splash on the Challenger circuit.   

The Connecticut native needed a deciding set in four of his five San Diego matches. He also partnered Tyler Zink to win the doubles trophy at the Challenger 100 event. Spizzirri and Zink have enjoyed success together, highlighted by their title run at the 2019 US Open boys' doubles event.

In other Challenger action, former World No. 12 Borna Coric captured the 4° Città di Lugano, his first title at any level since his surprise run at the 2022 ATP Masters 1000 event in Cincinnati.

Seeded second, Coric ended top seed Raphael Collignon’s nine-match winning streak 6-3, 6-1 in the final. Collignon won last week’s Pau Challenger to make his Top 100 debut. Coric was unbroken all week, fending off the 10 break points he faced, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

^{Borna Coric is crowned champion at the ATP Challenger 75 event in Lugano, Switzerland. Credit: Dave Wong Production}

American Brandon Holt continued his great start to the 2025 season by triumphing at the Dafa News Bengaluru Open, where he defeated Shintaro Mochizuki 6-3, 6-3 in the championship match. Holt won the Nonthaburi Challenger in January and finished runner up at last week’s Pune Challenger.

^{Brandon Holt triumphs in Bengaluru, India. Credit: Deepthi Indukuri}

The 26-year-old, who is the son of former WTA No. 1 Tracy Austin, is closing in on his Top 100 debut; currently at No. 111 in the PIF ATP Rankings. Holt boasts a 22-5 season record across all levels.

Frenchman Valentin Royer won the Rwanda Challenger to lift his second trophy at that level. The 23-year-old downed Slovakian qualifier Andrej Martin 6-1, 6-2 in the clay-court final. Following his triumph, Royer is at a career-high No. 151.

^{Valentin Royer celebrates his triumph with the Kigali ballkids. Credit: Rwanda Challenger}