Great tennis returns to Italy and does so in style thanks to the first Challenger 175 category tournament scheduled in Europe, after the recent debut in Phoenix, Arizona, with Matteo Berrettini on the draw.
From May 1st to 7th (qualifying on April 29th and 30th), in fact, on the red clay courts of the Tennis Club Cagliari a tasty appetizer of the Internazionali BNL d'Italia will be staged, which this year at the Foro Italico in Rome will occupy two weeks starting May 8.
Cagliari represents an unmissable appointment for racket enthusiasts because these new events on the ATP calendar - already nicknamed "Super Challenger" - have been designed precisely to offer great entertainment and are presented as tournaments much more similar to the ATP 250 than to the category they lead to. the name.
Last September, the Association that regulates the men's world professional circuit (ATP) launched the radical reform of the Challenger circuit for the 2023 season which provides for a record increase in the prize money and the simplification of the categories which have been reduced from six to four - Challenger 50, 75, 100 and 125 - and five "premium" events have been added to these: the Challenger 175, in fact, which also includes another stage in Italy, in Turin from 14 to 20 May. There will therefore be 195 second-level tournaments this year (against 182 in 2022) for a total amount of $21.1 million in prize money (against $13.2 million in 2022, equal to +60%).
The density of Challengers in Italy (28 were played in 2022) is one of the secrets of the success of our men's tennis in recent years, a rebirth envied and studied abroad. It is also thanks to the comfortable participation in these tournaments that the young Italian talents have managed to establish themselves and gain positions in the standings. In this sense, the commitment of the FITP is fundamental, which through the technical sector assigns wild cards to our emerging tennis players (invitations for the qualifying and main draws). It is no coincidence that currently five of the best 20 Next Gen in the world rankings, i.e. the Under 21 tennis players, are Italian.
