American Tim Smyczek didn’t have the best of seasons if you take October and November out of the equation. Add those two months in however, and things start to look a whole lot better.
The American won the Charlottesville Challenger two weeks ago, before making the quarter-finals in Knoxville last week. This week the American sealed his second Challenger title in his last three events with a 6-2, 6-4 win over 5th seed Bjorn Fratangelo. Smyczek dropped just one set in the tournament, to Cameron Norrie, in a run that included a win over top seed Tennys Sandgren.
Smyczek moves to a 7-6 record in Challenger Finals. The 5’9 American finishes the season 12-1 with his lone defeat in that run to Henri Laaksonen in Knoxville.
Winning the title in Champaign had more than just ATP points and prize money on the line. By winning, Smyczek finishes top of the standings in the autumn Challengers that count for Americans. The bonus prize for finishing top of that group is a wildcard into the main draw at the 2018 Australian Open.
Besides a significant amount of prize money, it will offer Smyczek a valuable week ahead of the tournament. Without having to take part in qualifying, there are a number of options open to him. He could choose to simply rest or train. Or he could look to play in an ATP or Challenger event the week before. Doing so would be advantageous, particularly at Challengers as most of his competitors at that level would be occupied with qualifying efforts for the Australian Open.
Smyczek lost in the final round of qualifying last year to fellow American Frances Tiafoe. He has reached the 2nd round at Melbourne Park. His most recent main draw appearance saw him take on Rafael Nadal. In a memorable match Smyczek was narrowly edged by the Spaniard over five sets.
