James McCabe advanced to the Nonthaburi Challenger semi-finals where Luke Saville and Tristan Schoolkate won the doubles.
September 30, 2024 | Dan Imhoff
James McCabe regained his confidence with a win over Australian Open 2021 semi-finalist Aslan Karatsev en route to the semi-finals of an ATP Challenger event in Thailand.
An active week for Australian doubles saw five players win professional titles, with the Alame sisters winning the biggest junior trophy together.
Here are this week’s standout performers…
James McCabe: The 21-year-old had a standout week in Nonthaburi, Thailand, reaching the ATP Challenger singles semi-finals after straight wins over former Australian Open finalist Karatsev and world number 92 Arthur Cazaux. This improves his record to 24 wins in his last 28 games.
Luke Saville: The 30-year-old won his third ATP Challenger doubles title of the season with his compatriot following a victory in Charleston alongside Tristan Schoolkate. In the all-Australian final, second seeds Saville and Schoolkate, who this season won the Burnie Challenger with Alex Bolt and the Chicago Challenger with Li Tu, denied Calum Puttergill and Dane Sweeny.
Tristan Schoolate: Like Saville, the 23-year-old also won his third ATP Challenger doubles trophy of the season alongside a fellow Australian in Charleston. It follows previous titles from Pune’s Adam Walton and Guangzhou’s Blake Ellis. It was his fourth title with Saville after winning three ITF M25 events in Australia last year.
Blake Ellis: The fit 25-year-old claimed his second ATP Challenger title of the year with a win alongside Adam Walton in Nonthaburi. It was Ellis’ second doubles title in as many weeks after winning the ITF M15 title in Bally and he remains unbeaten in his last eight matches.
Adam Walton: The 25-year-old won his third ATP Challenger doubles title with compatriot Ellis in Nonthaburi this year. This has already equaled the annual record from the last two years, following doubles wins in Taipei City and Bunny in 2024. The world number 95 also advanced to the quarterfinals in singles.
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Column Puttergill: The 30-year-old fell just shy of winning his second ATP Challenger title of the season after he and Dane Sweeny succumbed in a tiebreak against fellow Australians Saville and Schoolkate in the final in Charleston. The pair were attempting to win their second title together after competing in the ITF M25 event in Darwin two years ago.
Dane Sweeney: The 23-year-old, who regained the partnership that won the ITF M25 Trophy in Darwin in 2022, missed out on a first ATP Challenger doubles title with Puttergill in Charleston. It was Sweeny’s first doubles final since Darwin.
Elysia Bolton: The 24-year-old won her third ITF doubles title in as many finals this season after winning the Berkeley W35 final alongside American Maegan Manasse. This improves her doubles record to 14 wins and 2 losses since early April.
Thomas fancut: The 29-year-old joins Blake Baildon in reaching the semi-finals of the Nonthaburi Challenger, his 12th semi-final at ITF level this year. This was the duo’s second ATP Challenger semifinal this month, following Guangzhou.
Blake Baildon: The 25-year-old advanced to the semi-finals of the Nonthaburi Challenger event, backing up his Guangzhou semi-final with Fancutt. It was his ninth semifinal at ATP Challenger or ITF level this season.
Jamie Purlis: The 25-year-old reached his third ITF singles semifinal of 2024 at the Berkeley W35 event. The 274th ranked player advanced to the semifinals of the world rankings for the first time since winning the ITF tournament held in Amstelveen, Netherlands last July.
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Bernard Tomic: The former world No. 17 reached his fourth consecutive ATP Challenger quarterfinal in Charleston. The 31-year-old lost to eventual champion Edas Butvilas in his 11th quarterfinal of the season at ITF or ATP Challenger level.
Chanel Iaconi: The lucky loser made the most of his main draw call-up to reach the quarter-finals of the W15 tournament in Varna, Bulgaria. It was the 20-year-old’s first professional quarterfinal in his 16th tournament.
Alana Subasic: The 17-year-old reached the biggest final of his fledgling junior career at the J500 Osaka. Subasic won six straight and won three in a row before losing to Israel’s Mika Buchnik in the final.
Liana and Renee Alame: While Subasic was eliminated in the singles final, Australian sisters Riana, 17, and Renee Alame, 15, walked away with the biggest junior doubles title of their careers at the J500 Osaka event. They were the first siblings to win the tournament.
Rene Alame and Liana Alame holding the Osaka J500 Trophy.
