#NextGenATP Butvilas wins first Challenger title; Fearnley, Ritschard set for Top 100 debut

Three players secured memorable milestones Sunday when they triumphed on the ATP Challenger Tour.

#NextGenATP Edas Butvilas earned his maiden Challenger crown while Jacob Fearnley and Alexander Ritschard are set to crack the Top 100 of the PIF ATP Rankings on Wednesday following their title runs.

The 20-year-old Butvilas won the LTP Challenger in Charleston, South Carolina, where he became the first lucky loser champion at that level since February 2023 (Matteo Gigante, Tenerife). Butvilas downed American Nishesh Basavareddy 6-4, 6-3 in the final.

Entering the 2024 season, there had only been two Lithuanian winners in Challenger history: Ricardas Berankis and Laurynas Grigelis. But Lithuania has two #NextGenATP players who have added their names to the mix this year: Vilius Gaubas, who won the Cordenons Challenger, and Butvilas.

Up eight places to 14th in the PIF ATP Live Race To Jeddah, Butvilas is aiming to make a late push for maiden qualification for the 20-and-under Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF, which runs from 18-22 December. His countryman Gaubas is ninth.

Fearnley, 23, continued his unstoppable run at the Co'met Orleans Open. The Briton has won four Challenger titles this year, including the past three he has played. Prior to this season, Fearnley had only competed in one Challenger match, but the former Texas Christian University standout now boasts a 23-1 season record at that level.

Highest win percentage in a Challenger season (min. 20 matches played)

World No. 98 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings, Fearnley dropped just one set all week in Orleans, where he defeated home hope Harold Mayot 6-3, 7-6(5) in the final.

“It was a very, very difficult match. I was feeling pretty comfortable until about 5-3 [in the second set]. I had some opportunities but credit to Harold, he kept fighting and made it very difficult for me,” Fearnley said. “It’s never easy to serve out a title, especially a big one in front of a French crowd.”

Jubilation for @jakefearnley01 ??#ATPChallenger | @the_LTA pic.twitter.com/QEbz1CNWu3

Ritschard is also set to make his Top 100 debut after winning his third title of the year. The 30-year-old, who is one place behind Fearnley at No. 99 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings, won the Del Monte Lisboa Belém Open in Portugal. The Swiss overcame Belgian Raphael Collignon 6-3, 6-7(3), 6-3 in a two-hour, 37-minute final.

Alexander Ritschard celebrates winning the Lisbon Challenger. Credit: Beatriz Ruivo/FPT
"The result, the winning, and all this is just the reward for hard work," Ritschard said. "I consider myself still young, but I guess in the world of tennis people see 30 and they think, 'Oh, he's on his way out'. But for me, it's just getting started. I just want to see how far I can go. I think I have what it takes to play at the top and I just want to explore how far I can take it."

Argentine Juan Manuel Cerundolo won his third Challenger title of the year and 10th overall at the Challenger Dove Men+Care Antofagasta in Chile.

Juan Manuel Cerundolo at the Antofagasta Challenger. Credit: Challenger Dove Men+Care Antofagasta
The eighth seed relied on rock-solid counterpunching to overcome Paraguay’s 20-year-old Adolfo Daniel Vallejo 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 in the final. Cerundolo, 22, saved 11 of 15 break points faced, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

Tung-Lin Wu was crowned champion at the Bangkok Challenger, where he advanced through qualifying en route to lifting the trophy.

The 26-year-old, who hails from Chinese Taipei, downed American Mackenzie McDonald 6-3, 7-6(4) in the final to claim his second Challenger title and first since April 2022. Wu dropped just one set across seven matches in Thailand.

Tung-Lin Wu in action at the Bangkok Challenger. Credit: Bangkok Challenger