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Main photo credit: Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports

Challenger Tour Weekly Recap: Stan Wawrinka Comes Up Just Short Again

Originally posted on Last Word On Sports | By Damian Kust | Last updated Sep 14, 2025 2:48 PM ET

Davis Cup week usually brings a lot of interesting storylines to the Challenger circuit and that was also the case on this occasion with 6 intriguing events. Stan Wawrinka became the second-oldest player to make a final at this level, but couldn’t take the record for the oldest-ever champion. Thiago Agustin Tirante will return to the Top 100 after triumphing in Szczecin, while Stefano Napolitano took the title in his hometown, Biella. Read up on last week’s action:

Szczecin

Pablo Llamas Ruiz produced brilliant performances at Grand Slam qualifying this year, making it through both at Roland Garros and at the US Open. Now it’s all about taking that intensity to the tour and he was finally able to do that in Szczecin. A marathon 90-minute+ opening set against Dimitar Kuzmanov proved crucial to his success in the second round, while against defending champion Vit Kopriva, he produced a stunning comeback from 1-5 in the 3rd set. Llamas Ruiz reached his 1st final since July 2023.

Thiago Agustin Tirante lost a thriller final to Dalibor Svrcina in Cancun just before the US Open, but couldn’t make it through the qualifying in New York. As the second seed in Szczecin, he run into a fascinating scenario on Thursday as after breaking Jozef Kovalik at 4-5 in the 3rd set, the match was suspended due to rain with Tirante 6-5 40-15 up. He came back the next day to wrap it up despite the stressful situation and won another match later that day before getting to the final.

The first set was tight until 3-all when Tirante truly separated himself for the rest of the match. Outside of that serve and +1 forehand firepower, he started constructing the points well, playing the angles, was even able to outsmart Llamas Ruiz in some crafty exchanges. It was a true showcase of his development as a player and Tirante claimed his 6th Challenger title 6-3 6-2, returning to the Top 100. He will play Bad Waltersdorf next with Llamas ruiz pulling out of the same event after losing the Szczecin final (they were due to meet in the second round).

Guangzhou

Alejandro Tabilo fell outside the Top 100 this year after a few injuries and was only 10-16 for the season coming into Guangzhou. The Chilean needed to find something quickly in his 3rd Challenger appearance of 2025 (Prostejov semifinal, Cancun second round). Only Nishesh Basavareddy was able to trouble him on the way to the final with the American’s back giving out in the deciding set before Tabilo advanced to his first final since June 2024 (ATP 250 Mallorca title) after Christopher O’Connell retired three games in.

Juan Manuel Cerundolo had never made a semifinal on hard courts at any level of professional competition, but the ranking improvement this year allowed him more space to schedule for less suitable surfaces. The Argentinian was a bit fortunate to advance to the final four with two consecutive retirements, especially as Dan Evans injured his wrist and had to pull the plug while up a set and a break. But Cerundolo then proved he was worthy of that semifinal spot by defeating last week’s Cassis champion, Billy Harris.

The sudden hard-court development of Cerundolo continued with Tabilo’s aggressive game having way too low of an impact. It was the Argentinian who often got to dictate with his lefty topspin forehand, showing how much more comfortable he’s become on the attack. After a surprisingly non-competitive final, Cerundolo claimed his 11th Challenger title 6-2 6-3 and reaching a new career-high of World No. 72. Both players will be competing at the ATP 250 in Chengdu next, but Tabilo will have to start from qualifying.

Rennes

Hugo Gaston recently fell out of the Top 100 after dropping his Kitzbuhel final points from 2024. In six prior appearances on the Challenger Tour this season, the Frenchman had only reached the quarterfinals once. The top seed was desperate to start the indoor season on a high note and only dropped one set on the way to the final, prevailing over Clement Chidekh in the semifinals to reach his first final at the Challenger level since Lyon in June 2024.

Stan Wawrinka was the third player over 40 years of age to reach a Challenger final in Aix-en-Provence in May earlier this year. The Swiss didn’t give up on his hopes of becoming the oldest-ever champion at this level with semifinal runs in Iasi and Cancun. Starting the indoor season in Rennes, the No. 2 seed began with a vintage one-handed backhand duel against Kenny de Schepper and went on to reach the final without dropping a set. Only Ivo Karlovic was older when he reached a Challenger final (2019 Houston).

Gaston had already defeated Wawrinka at 2020 Roland Garros, playing one of the best matches of his career. There was something there with his tricky style giving a power-reliant player a hard time unleashing all his force, especially with how much the Frenchman plays the dropshot and mixes up rhythm. The 40-year-old legend tried his best, but the record will remain with Karlovic for now. Gaston claimed his 5th Challenger title 6-4 6-4 and will now take the week off before returning in Orleans. Wawrinka is playing in Saint-Tropez, facing 17-year-old Justin Engel in the opening round.

Winston-Salem

Jack Pinnington Jones lost a 12-14 match tie-break against Beibit Zhukayev at US Open qualifying, coming back to the regular tour with something to prove. The former Texas Christian University star feels very comfortable playing in the US and was one of the favorites to take the title in Winston-Salem. As the No. 4 seed, he also found himself in a reasonably open part of the draw and almost didn’t run into any issues on the way to the final, not dropping a set and surrendering just two breaks of serve.

Trevor Svajda, brother of recent Newport and Lexington champion Zachary, had already reached three Challenger quarterfinals this year in his most successful season to date. The Southern Methodist University player had to survive a few more obstacles than Pinnington Jones, including a quarterfinal showdown with No. 2 seed Murphy Cassone and a clash against last year’s US Open junior champion, Rafael Jodar, in the final four. The 19-year-old ended up reaching his first Challenger final.

Pinnington Jones lost to Svajda in San Diego earlier this season, but watching the Winston-Salem final it would be tough to understand why. The Brit has such a high floor right now with strong physicality or good spin and depth off the baseline. You need to have serious weaponry to compete and Svajda didn’t really possess the firepower to put him under pressure. Pinnington Jones claimed his 2nd Challenger title 6-2 6-4 and returns to the Top 200. His next tournament will be in Las Vegas after a week of rest, while Svajda is starting the college season and will probably play another pro event at the end of the month in Tiburon.

Biella

Stefano Napolitano was once a bit of an infamous story of the Challengers in Biella. With seven editions in 2021, the Italian kept receiving wildcards and losing with a 2-17 overall record that year. But his career didn’t stop there and now the Biella-native deserved the wildcard to help him come back from an injury hiatus. Despite looking shaky in the lead-up to the tournament, Napolitano blasted his way through the draw and never dropped more than six games in a match.

Killian Feldbausch had his Challenger breakthrough at the end of the 2023 season with a final in Maspalomas, but spent most of the season after away from the courts, injured. It took him almost two years to make another final with the 20-year-old finally putting his game together in Biella. He defeated a mixture of fellow up-and-comers like Marko Topo or Luka Mikrut and veteran of the clay Challenger circuit Marco Cecchinato.

Hometown hero returning to Biella final after finishing runner-up in 2018 was a great story, but Napolitano still needed to come up with the goods. Feldbausch’s movement and baseline game were at a very high level and many opponents couldn’t keep up. The Italian and his trademark backhand navigated the angles much better and looked for openings without risking too much. Napolitano claimed his 4th Challenger title 7-5 6-4, earning 50 of his current 77 ranking points. He will try to play some Asian Swing events on a protected ranking in a few weeks, while Feldbausch took a special exempt into Bad Waltersdorf.

Targu Mures

Marco Trungelliti earned his 2nd Challenger title of 2025 in Tulln the week before Targu Mures, not dropping a set and producing an almost flawless display. As the top seed in Romania, the 35-year-old had to be once more perceived as one of the tournament favorites. Despite the physical toll of going deep for two weeks straight, Trungelliti only had one difficult encounter on the way to another final with Franco Agamenone pushing him at the quarterfinal stage.

Mili Poljicak wasn’t even 18 when he reached his 1st Challenger final in Zagreb in 2022. Just a few months later he was the Wimbledon boys’ singles champion, but in the long-term it became clear his game wasn’t quite ready for that level yet. Before his run in Targu Mures three years later, Poljicak ended up dropping outside the Top 400. He took out three consecutive Romanian players in a row and followed it up with a big win over No. 3 seed Jay Clarke in the semifinals.

Trungelliti showed no signs of gassing out in the final, while Poljicak required medical attention at 1-4 due to pain in his groin. It quickly became clear that the Croatian was in no shape to play on Sunday. He didn’t wait long before pulling the plug after dropping the opening set. Trungelliti earned his 6th Challenger title (3rd of the season) 6-1 RET and will now get some much-needed rest before returning in Lisbon. Poljicak was supposed to play the second event in Targu Mures, but had to pull out.

Events held this week:

LAYJET – Open Presented by Kronen Zeitung (Bad Waltersdorf, Challenger 125, clay)
Saint-Tropez Open (Challenger 125, indoor hard)
Columbus Challenger (Challenger 75, hard)
AAT Challenger Santander Edicion Villa Maria (Challenger 75, clay)
Targu Mures 2 (Challenger 50, clay)