Cordenons Celebrates 20th Anniversary
The Challenger 75 event has hosted world-class players before they became household names. Carlos Alcaraz was a finalist in Cordenons in 2020 as a 17 year old. In 2013, Pablo Carreno Busta was crowned champion two weeks after he cracked the Top 100 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings for the first time. The past two champions, Zhang Zhizhen and Francisco Cerundolo, have since graduated to the ATP Tour. Paolo Lorenzi thrilled the home crowd to title runs in 2012 and 2018. The Cordens Challenger serves as the main event in the Friuli Venezia Giulia region and tournament director Serena Raffin runs the tournament in honour of her father, Eddi, who founded the event and served as tournament director until his unexpected passing in 2013.