10 HISTORICAL FACTS ABOUT THE CHALLENGER CIRCUIT THAT WILL LEAVE YOU WITH YOUR MOUTH OPEN

1. Ruben Ramírez Hidalgo is the player with the most victories in the history of the Challenger Circuit. The Spaniard won… 423 matches! He is closely followed by the Italian Paolo Lorenzi with 421 victories.

2. Rafa Nadal is the third youngest player in history to win two titles on the Challenger circuit. His first victory was in Seville when he was just 16 years and 9 months old and his second, four months later, in El Espinar when he had just turned 17.

3. Note this name: Joel Schwaerzler. He is the first player born in 2006 to win a title on the circuit. He did so by winning the Skopje Open in Macedonia earlier this year. In addition, the German Diego Dedura-Palomero is the first player born in 2008 to win a match on the circuit.

4. Ivo Karlovic takes home the prize for the oldest player on the Tour. At 39 years and 7 months he won the Calgary tournament and became the oldest player to lift a Challenger trophy. Second on the list is Fernando Verdasco who won at 38 years and 3 months in Monterrey.

5. Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor holds the record for the most titles in a single season. Eight wins in a memorable 2021. In 2010, Carlos Berloq became the player with the most wins in a single year (57).

6. A fact that demonstrates the vital importance of the Challenger Tour as a previous step to reach the top is that only two active players have won an ATP title without having previously won a trophy at the Challenger: Milos Raonic and Tim van Rijthoven

7. Andy Murray also holds records on the Challenger Tour. He is the player to have won two titles with the longest time difference. He won in Birmingham in 2005 at just 18 years old and his last victory was last year in Aix in Provence. 17 years and 8 months apart.

8. If the most successful duo in the history of doubles are the Bryan brothers, on the Challenger circuit we find the Ratiwana brothers. Between them, Sanchai (48) and Sonchat Ratiwana have accumulated 94 doubles titles. No one has more titles than the Thai brothers.

9. In the individual section, Yen-Hsun Lu is the player with the most titles in the history of the Circuit with 29 trophies throughout his career. Although he did not manage to win any ATP title, in 2004 he became the first Taiwanese in history to occupy a place among the 100 best in the world. 10. Another record of precocity. Felix Auger Aliassime became the youngest player to reach a final draw of the Challenger in 2015. He was only 14 years and 7 months old when he played the tournament in Drummondvi