Starting in 2019, the ATP will be enacting some significant changes to the Challenger Tour in order to enhance the players’ experiences at each event. These changes include modifications to prize money, draw sizes, player hospitality, tournament schedules, on-site facilities, and online streaming.

While players who compete on the ATP Challenger Tour may not be as well-known as the players competing on the main ATP World Tour, the level of tennis is still extremely high and very entertaining to watch. I make sure to attend a couple Challenger events every year because it’s easy to view all the action up close and personal, compared to sitting in the nosebleeds at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Many players use the Challenger Tour events as a way to get back in match-form after an injury. Kei Nishikori entered a couple Challengers back in the beginning of the year to get matches under his belt before returning to the main tour, and he ended up winning the tournament in Dallas.

My point is, there isn’t a huge difference in skill level between the main ATP World Tour and the ATP Challenger Tour.

Starting next year, all main-draw players will earn prize money on the Challenger Tour. It appears as though an additional one million dollars will be generated in prize money, and the higher level tournaments will offer up to $162, 480 as the total purse in 2019. Over the last several years, prize money has been steadily increasing, which is great to see because these players are working hard every day to try to carve out a living for themselves.

Currently, the draw size for a singles main-draw Challenger event is 32 players. That will be increasing to 48 players. There will also be a 4-player qualifying draws as well. Two of those qualifiers will then advance into the main-draw. The standard 16-team doubles draw will remain the same. I like the idea of bigger draws. More players equal more matches. Don’t we all want more matches?

Every ATP Challenger tournament will be providing hotel accommodations for players participating in the main-draws. Many events already provide this feature, but there will be no question about it starting in 2019. This is a sweet perk for these guys because staying in hotels can add up quickly! That is one expense they will no longer have to account for.

The tournament schedules will also be tweaked a bit. The matches are going to take place across seven days from Monday to Sunday, which includes qualifying. As of right now, the qualifying matches typically start over the weekend, which leads to events overlapping by a couple days. Next year, players should be able to flow from event to event with ease.

If all goes well, the ATP Challenger Tour will have more practice courts available for players to use, as well as improved player treatment facilities. These are changes that fans won’t necessarily see, but the players will certainly be thankful for. It can be a pain to wait for available practice courts, and having more access to qualified physiotherapists should hopefully eliminate some injuries and withdrawals we tend to see at this level.

In addition, all main-draw singles matches at Challengers are intended to be streamed online. Fans will now have greater access to viewing these tournaments and some of their favorite players. I know we already have tons of tennis to watch all year long, but being able to tune into another 150 plus events makes it more fun, right?

The final major change beginning next year has to do with tournament categories. The ATP Challenger Tour events will begin to offer ranking points similar to the way it works on the ATP World Tour, which consists of 250, 500, and Masters 1000 level tournaments. The Challenger Tour will contain five categories; 70, 80, 95, 110, and 125 level events, which gives the Tour a clear structure.

Chris Kermode, ATP Executive Chairman & President, said: “These are significant changes that will lead to a real enhancement of the ATP Challenger Tour, particularly as we seek to provide more earning opportunities for players at the entry level into men’s professional tennis. A big priority for us is to ensure we have a healthy player pathway and that we improve the viability of a career in men’s professional tennis. These changes represent an important step in the right direction for our sport.”

Overall, I think many of these changes will be positive for the ATP Challenger Tour. It’s important for these players to be treated like professionals, because they are!

Drawing the line between the true professional ranks and the transitional ranks was something that needed to be done. This should help differentiate the big dawgs from the wanna-be’s. We’ll see how it all plays out.

What do you think of these changes to the ATP Challenger Tour? Are you in favor of them? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.