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The 14th Sparkasse Challenger Val Gardena South Tyrol will take place from 22 to 29 October. South Tyrol's most important tennis tournament starts tomorrow, Sunday, at 10 a.m. with the qualifying, in which 24 players will play until Monday for the last six free places in the main draw. Thanks to a wild card from the organisers, local hero Patric Prinoth (to open against world number 491 Ryan Nijboer from the Netherlands) and Pietro Orlando Fellin (against Daniel Cukierman from Israel, ATP-363) will also be taking part. No. 1 qualifier is Lukas Klein of Slovakia, who lost last year's final in Gardena-Gröden to Borna Gojo. Klein, as number 178 in the world rankings, would curiously also be number 1 in the main draw and has decided at short notice to start in Gardena-Gröden, which is why he has to play the qualifier.

Ancora due giorni di attesa, poi finalmente si gioca. Lo Sparkasse Challenger Val Gardena Südtirol (22-29 ottobre) anche quest’anno sarà il torneo di tennis più importante in Alto Adige dotato di un montepremi di 36.000 euro. 50 punti ATP andranno al vincitore. Il torneo inizia domenica mattina con le qualificazioni, da lunedì si giocheranno le partite del tabellone principale. La finale è in programma domenica 29 ottobre alle 11.00. Per la 25ª volta dalla prima edizione del 1999 (allora fu organizzato un 10.000 dollari femminile), a Ortisei si svolgerà un torneo professionistico internazionale, per la 14ª volta dal 2010 un torneo challenger, che nell’albo d’oro comprende i nomi di Andreas Seppi (vincitore nel 2013 e nel 2014) ma anche di Jannik Sinner, trionfatore in casa nel 2019.

In an interview, tournament director Wolfgang Wanker explains the development of the largest tennis tournament in South Tyrol from 1999 to the present day. Originally started as a small ITF tournament, it has shifted between different prize money categories and gained recognition and popularity among numerous top female and male players. In addition to a list of prominent winners, the tournament became particularly known for the participation of future world number one Caroline Wozniacki in 2007, the multiple appearances of Andreas Seppi, and the participation of the current world number four, Jannik Sinner, in 2019. A 25-year history of international tennis in Val Gardena.

The 13th edition of the Sparkasse Challenger Val Gardena South Tyrol has seen the first winner from Croatia. The unseeded Borna Gojo, number 182 in the world rankings, won the final match today at noon in Ortisei against the number 7 seed Lukas Klein from Slovakia, number 163 in the world, with 7:6 (4) and 6:3. Gojo received 6190 euros prize money and 80 world ranking points for his victory, with which he will move into the top 150 players in the world in the ATP rankings for the first time on Monday. 

Denis Istomin and Evgeny Karlovskiy won the doubles title at the Sparkasse Challenger Val Gardena Südtirol.