Belgian Collignon cracks Top 100

Nicolai Budkov Kjaer added his name to the record books Sunday when he became the second-youngest Norwegian — behind Casper Ruud — to win an ATP Challenger title.

Competing in just his fifth event at that level, the 18-year-old triumphed at the Lexus Glasgow Challenger. Budkov Kjaer, who last year won the Wimbledon boys’ singles trophy, defeated countryman Viktor Durasovic 6-4, 6-3 in the final.

“I’m very happy to win,” said Budkov Kjaer, who is up 141 spots to a career-high No. 298 in the PIF ATP Rankings. “It was great to play a friend in the final. We tried not to jinx things, so we didn’t speak too much about the possibility of this final during the week. I’m just trying to improve every day and looking forward to seeing how far I can go this year.”

Youngest Norwegian ATP Challenger Tour champions
Player Age Title
Casper Ruud 17 years, eight months 2016 Seville
Nicolai Budkov Kjaer 18 years, five months 2025 Glasgow
Christian Ruud 20 years, 10 months 1993 Tampere

The #NextGenATP star joins Joao Fonseca and Alexander Blockx as teenagers to win an ATP Challenger Tour title this year. Budkov Kjaer, who was a sparring partner at the 2024 Nitto ATP Finals, is seventh in the PIF ATP Live Race To Jeddah as he seeks his maiden trip to the 20-and-under Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF, which is held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

In other Challenger action, it was also a milestone week for Belgian Raphael Collignon, who secured his Top 100 debut by winning the Terega Open Pau Pyrenees in France. The 23-year-old dropped just one set all week, during which he defeated German qualifier Patrick Zahraj 6-2, 6-4 in the final.

Collignon, a three-time Challenger champion, entered Pau with a 0-4 season record. Following his triumph, he is up to a career-high No. 98 in the PIF ATP Rankings.

Raphael Collignon wins the Pau Challenger.
Raphael Collignon wins the Pau Challenger. Credit: Alexis Atteret

Czech Dalibor Svrcina won the Pune Metropolitan Region Challenger to collect his third title at that level. The 22-year-old fended off two match points in his opening-round match against August Holmgren and rode his momentum to lift the trophy. Svrcina downed American Brandon Holt 7-6(3), 6-1 in the championship match.

Dalibor Svrcina in action at the Pune Challenger.
Dalibor Svrcina in action at the Pune Challenger. Credit: Pune Metropolitan Region Challenger

Geoffrey Blancaneaux ousted Calvin Hemery 6-3, 6-4 in the all-French final at the Brazzaville Challenger in the Republic of Congo. The title match featured the Top 2 seeds at the clay-court event, with the second seed Blancaneaux reigning victorious, lifting his third Challenger crown.