Five Challenger players to watch at Wimbledon

ATPTour.com looks at five ATP Challenger Tour players to keep your eyes on during Wimbledon.

Billy Harris
Set to enter Wimbledon at a career-high No. 116 in the PIF ATP Rankings, Harris arrives at the All England Club following a semi-final run in Eastbourne, his career-best tour-level result. The week prior, the 29-year-old was a quarter-finalist at Queen’s. Harris holds an 11-4 grass record across all levels this season, including semi-final appearances at the Surbiton and Nottingham Challengers.

The British wild card will make his major main-draw debut against Spaniard Jaume Munar.

Zizou Bergs
The 25-year-old, who reached the Roland Garros third round, advanced through qualifying for the second straight Slam. Bergs first cracked the Top 100 after his run on the Parisian clay, where he took a set off 10th seed Grigor Dimitrov. The Belgian also pushed seventh seed Stefanos Tsitsipas to four sets at the Australian Open.

An eight-time ATP Challenger Tour champion, Bergs has enjoyed grass-court success at that level, having won in Ilkley in 2022, then ranked World No. 207 in the PIF ATP Rankings. Bergs seeks his first Wimbledon main-draw victory against Frenchman Arthur Cazaux.

Lloyd Harris
The former World No. 31 has quietly been resurging after two years plagued with injuries. Harris, who underwent major right wrist surgery in June 2022, returned to the Top 100 for the first time in 21 months after triumphing at this month’s Surbiton Challenger, the first grass tournament of the season.

In April, the 27-year-old earned back-to-back titles by winning the Gwangju and Shenzhen Challengers. He is one of four players to win a trio of ATP Challenger Tour titles this season. A quarter-finalist at the 2021 US Open, Harris faces #NextGenATP American Alex Michelsen in the first round.

Shang Juncheng
The #NextGenATP teen is aiming to build upon his Eastbourne quarter-final run with a first Wimbledon main-draw victory. Shang also reached the last eight at the grass-court Nottingham Challenger two weeks ago. The 19-year-old looks to improve upon his third position in the PIF ATP Live Race To Jeddah. He is seeking his maiden trip to the 20-and-under Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF, which runs from 18-22 December in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

The Chinese lefty, who made the Australian Open third round, meets Chilean qualifier and 2022 quarter-finalist Cristian Garin in the opening round.

Jacob Fearnley
The Briton went on a surprise run at the Nottingham Challenger to claim his maiden title at that level. Despite entering the week without a Challenger-level match win, Fearnley went all the way to lift the trophy as a qualifier. He became the third consecutive British champion in Nottingham, joining Daniel Evans (2022) and Andy Murray (2023).

Fearnley, 22, is at a career-high World No. 271. A four-time ITA All-American while playing for Texas Christian University, the wild card seeks his first tour-level win when he faces Spanish qualifier Alejandro Moro Canas. A potential second-round match against seven-time champion Novak Djokovic looms in the second round.

[NEWSLETTER FORM]