© Sophia Lavrov

At 28, Michael Mmoh has chosen the Tenerife Challenger as the next stop in a return to form. The American is competing at the event for the first time, which is staged across two tournaments at the Abama Tennis Academy in Guía de Isora. With mild temperatures, sunshine and outdoor hard courts while much of Europe and North America remain in winter, Tenerife offers a useful early-season environment on the ATP Challenger Tour.

Mmoh turned professional in 2016 and is currently world No. 238 after reaching a career-high of No. 81 in September of 2023. He is a seven-time ATP Challenger Tour champion, with all his titles won on hard courts in the United States. His most recent title came in 2022, and his best season was 2023 when he reached the fourth round at both the Australian Open and the US Open.

He opened 2026 with a quarterfinal showing at the ATP 250 Hong Kong Tennis Open, a run that included a victory over No. 4 seed Karen Khachanov, noted as one of the biggest wins of his career.

His first impressions of the island were uniformly positive. “It’s a beautiful place,” Mmoh said. “It’s my first time here in Tenerife. Honestly, I heard it was a nice place and a nice tournament but coming here exceeded all my expectations. To see it in person, the views from the tennis courts are just amazing. It is a spectacular place and it’s going to be a great place to call [the] office for the next two weeks.”

Born into a tennis family, he started playing at age 3 with his father Tony, a former ATP player, and moved to the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, at 13. Growing up, his idol was Andy Roddick.

After recurring injuries, Mmoh is focused on consistency and recovery. “I had a couple of injuries the last two years, which was tough,” he said. “But that’s part of being a professional tennis player. There’re ups and downs. At the end of the day, I did everything to stay healthy. I was happy to start the year the way I did, beating Khachanov and other great players. That gives me confidence that this is going to be great year for me.

“I’ve got what it takes, and I feel like staying healthy. There’s no reason I can’t do that.” Asked about objectives he added: “The biggest target for sure is to stay healthy and play a full calendar year,” he said. “I haven’t done that in some time. Ranking-wise, I want to see myself back in the Top 100, and then go from there. I can definitely go for more, but I want to do one step at a time.”

On the courts here, he noted: “The courts here are unique. They are on the slower end for sure, but it suits me. I am a good athlete. I can play physical tennis. The rallies are going to be a bit longer here. I have the ability to play well on these courts,” Mmoh said. He also praised recent Grand Slam matches: “Both matches, [Carlos] Alcaraz vs. [Alexander] Zverev and [Jannik] Sinner vs. [Novak] Djokovic, were incredible level. It was great for the fans to have these two matches on the same day. It was a treat for tennis.”

Sebastian Korda, a former world No. 15 who turned professional in 2018, has returned to the ATP Challenger scene for the first time in nearly five years at the 2026 Better Buzz Coffee San Diego Open. The week arrives as the Australian Open concludes and marks a notable point in a career often defined by starts, interruptions and comebacks.

When asked about his last Challenger, Korda answered plainly: “I lost in Biella to Dmitry Popko in two sets, I think. It was in 2021.” The San Diego week also coincides with the fifth anniversary of his Quimper Challenger victory, the result that launched his Top 100 debut. “I didn’t know this week was five years ago on the dot. That’s pretty cool,” he reflects.

Korda began 2026 strongly, reaching the Brisbane International quarterfinals, but returned from Australia frustrated by narrow defeats. He lost 7-6 in the third to Thanasi Kokkinakis in Adelaide, then fell in five sets to Michael Zheng at the Australian Open after rallying from two sets down. “Extremely disappointed with the whole Australian tour really,” he admits. “I thought it would be best to just stay in the competitive mindset. Luckily I got a wild card here in San Diego and I’m able to keep playing.”

On Wednesday at the Barnes Tennis Center, Korda, the top seed, opened with a 6-4, 7-5 victory over Daniel Milavsky. Before the interview he returned to the court to hit for 10 or so minutes, a departure from his usual routine but one he felt necessary.

Injuries have interrupted several seasons: a stress fracture in his right shin after Roland Garros in 2025 cost him nearly three months, a lower back issue flared at the US Open in his second event back, and right elbow surgery ended a previous season after New York. “It’s extremely difficult to kind of just stop and go, stop and go all the time. I think it definitely hurts you mentally. You just get in a really bad place when you’re injured and then you don’t really do too well when you’re coming back,” he shares. “You kind of lose that stressful feeling when you’re playing a tournament and that’s one of the things that I think I just need right now, especially with the amount of time that I missed. Just to keep playing the competitive environment and have those morning butterflies before a match.”

Asked a lighthearted final question about the upcoming Super Bowl, Korda said, “I think the Patriots are gonna win. Only because my best friend’s a Seahawks fan, so I gotta go against them.”

The ATP Challenger Tour resumes with two standout stops as the indoor Open Quimper Bretagne Occidentale and the outdoor Bahrain Open begin this week.

The 17th edition of the Open Quimper Bretagne Occidentale moves to a new venue for the first time, staged at the Kostum Park – À Nous La Vie in Quimper. Known for its medieval old town, Quimper combines regional identity with a long indoor Challenger tradition. French players have dominated the event historically, with a home favorite lifting the trophy nine times. Pierre-Hugues Herbert (2014, 2024) and Grégoire Barrère (2019, 2023) have each won the title twice.

That trend is likely to continue in 2026, with at least eleven French players in the singles main draw. The bottom half of the draw is headlined by 2017 champion Adrian Mannarino. Now 37 and a five-time ATP Tour champion, Mannarino arrives on a wild card and opens against Switzerland’s Remy Bertola. Another wild card, Benoit Paire, meets seventh seed Benjamin Bonzi in the first round. Fourth seed Quentin Halys must get past Switzerland’s Marc-Andrea Hüsler in his opener. Defending champion Sascha Gueymard Wayenburg begins against a qualifier.

The field is led by American Aleksandar Kovacevic, the world No. 56 who claimed two of his six Challenger titles last season. Kovacevic reached the Brisbane semifinals on the ATP Tour to open his season but followed that with first-round exits in Auckland and at the Australian Open and is seeking his first match win since. He opens in Quimper against Frenchman Clément Tabur. Spain’s Pedro Martínez, fresh from victory at the Bengaluru Open two weeks ago, and Nikoloz Basilashvili are among the international contenders for the title and 125 ATP ranking points. Young players Justin Engel and Thomas Faurel can also cause upsets.

In Manama the fifth edition of the Bahrain Open returns as an ATP Challenger 125 Showcase Tournament on outdoor hard courts, having previously been named ATP Challenger of the Year in its category. Four Top 100 players headline the draw: Alexei Popyrin, Mattia Bellucci, Jacob Fearnley and Filip Misolic. Popyrin, the top seed, faces Ugo Blanchet as he seeks his third Challenger title in addition to three ATP Tour trophies. Bellucci, Fearnley and Misolic all open with challenging first-round assignments, and fifth seed Yannick Hanfmann, who impressed in Melbourne, will meet a qualifier.