ATP Challenger Tenerife: Not in the shadow of the Australian Open!
An ATP Challenger tournament will be held in Tenerife next week. The cast is good. The ambience outstanding.
by Florian Heer
last edit: Jan 15, 2023, 05:44 pm
Is it possible to successfully host a professional tennis tournament in the shadow of the Australian Open? Although the focus of most fans and media representatives is on the first Grand Slam event of the year, the answer still has to be "yes". Especially when it takes place on the sunny island of Tenerife.
Three tournaments of the ATP Challenger Tour will be held on the largest of the Canary Islands in the next four weeks. The swing on the archipelago, which is around 300 kilometers off the coast of Morocco and Western Sahara and more than 1,200 kilometers from the south coast, began on Sunday with an event in the second-highest category, where the individual winner can look forward to more than 16,000 euros in prize money and 100 ATP world ranking points away from the Spanish mainland.
Tennis facility in a fantastic ambience
Even the journey to the Abama Tennis Resort is spectacular. With the small neighboring island of La Gomera always in view, the switchbacks in the southwestern municipality of Guía di Isora lead you past banana plantations and the castle-like, terracotta-colored luxury hotel Ritz-Carlton and finally to the tennis court. From here you have a view of the Atlantic through palm trees and a large green area with attached golf resort.
In the middle are the seven tennis courts, which were used for the ATP Challenger and WTA tournament at the end of 2021, in the first year of the event. All hard courts are equipped with floodlights. The center court offers space for around 600 spectators.
Without Struff and Hanfmann, but with Ofner and Neumayer
One of the biggest challenges for the organizers is putting together an attractive field of participants. This is where the competition Down Under, which is taking place at the same time and of course much more important, is noticeable. From a German point of view, Jan-Lennard Struff and Yannick Hanfmann were registered for the Tenerife Challenger. However, both successfully qualified for the main draw of the Australian Open and are therefore still at the start in Melbourne. The Spanish ex-top 10 player Fernando Verdasco, who advanced to the semi-finals in the debut tournament, also pulled out of the tournament in advance. However, Lukas Neumayer, Maximilian Neuchrist and Sebastian Ofner are at the start for Austria.
“I've often been to Tenerife on vacation and in winter to prepare. I don't think I've ever been to such a nice tournament," said Neumayer enthusiastically after his opening success in qualifying over the Italian Cristian Campese.
Ofner is one of the representatives who have taken on the arduous journey from Australia to Tenerife. Despite still having a little jet lag and a defeat in the third round of qualifying for the Happy Slam, the 26-year-old from Styria was in a positive mood. "I haven't had such a good start to a new tennis season for a long time," revealed Ofner, who will meet number six seeded Italian Luca Nardi at the Tenerife Challenger.
"I'm pain-free, I can play fully again and I want to push through the season. Even if the 25-hour journey wasn't easy, everything fits very well and the system looks great. I expect a top challenger.”
Albot top seed
The field is led by Moldovan Radu Albot, number 100 in the ATP world rankings. Francesco Passaro, part of Italy's up-and-coming youngsters, is seeded in second.
A special focus is on Benoit Paire. The extravagant Frenchman has already registered for the first two tournaments on the volcanic island, which is home to the highest mountain in Spain, the Pico del Teide. Volcanoes and pairs? That might fit. Even as an unseeded player, the former world No. 18 will go into the tournament as one of the favourites.