Challenger Tour Weekly Preview: Two Events Stateside

The Challenger Tour continues this week with a pair of events behind in the United States, one of which as a precursor to the Gold level event which follows a week after, the J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions at Grand Central Terminal in New York.

The J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions Challenger begins Wednesday, with the winners of the men’s and women’s Challenger 10 level titles earning a spot in the main draw of the Gold level event as wildcards. The other event on the Challenger Tour this week will be the Richmond Open, a Challenger 20 level women’s tournament which begins on Tuesday.

Here is what is taking place on Tour this week…

Richmond Open
The first of two events on Tour this week will be the Challenger 20 level Richmond Open, which will take place at the Country Club of Virginia from Tuesday, April 26 to Saturday, April 30.

Egypt’s Zeina Mickawy will be the top seed for the tournament, with compatriots Hana Moataz and Menna Hamed joining Latvia’s Ineta Mackevica as the rest of the top four seeds. England’s Lucy Beecroft and Grace Gear, Australia’s Alex Haydon and New Zealand’s Kaitlyn Watts will also be seeded for the competition.

There will be just a single American in action, with 16-year-old Caroline Fouts as one of two wildcards for the Challenger 20 level tournament, alongside India’s Sachika Balvani. Ecuador, Japan, Malaysia, Pakistan, Singapore and Wales will be the other nations represented.

J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions Challenger
A day later, on Wednesday, April 27, the J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions Challenger will get underway, with five venues for the event. The Harvard Club of New York, New York Athletic Club, River Club of New York and Nicol Squash Club will all play host to matches, before the finals take place on the glass court at Grand Central Terminal, with the winners receiving wildcards to the Gold level J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions, that starts on May 1.

Faraz Khan will be the top seed for the men’s event, and one of four Americans playing on home soil. He will be joined by Christopher Gordon, Spencer Lovejoy and Timothy Brownell. Qatar’s Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi, fresh off a win in Atlanta at the weekend, will be the No.2 seed, with the Hong Kong duo of Henry Leung and Tsz Kwan Lau also featuring.

The women’ draw will be lead by Egypt’s Sana Ibrahim, and she will have challenges from the Hong Kong trio of Tsz-Wing Tong, Ka Yi Seed and Chan Sin Yuk. American sisters Marina and Lucie Stefanoni, along with Egypt’s Kenny Ayman and England’s Margot Prow, make up he rest of the top eight seeds in the draw.

This Week’s Schedule
Richmond Open: Tuesday, April 26 – Saturday, April 30
J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions Challenger: Wednesday, April 27 – Saturday, April 30