For the first time in nearly two decades, Ireland hosts an ATP Challenger event this week and Elm Park Golf & Sports Club has earned the honour. The Donnybrook club will showcase some excellent players on its storied grass courts, most notably Grigor Dimitrov.
Now 35, the former world no.3 and ATP Finals champion is rebuilding his ranking after injury struck at Wimbledon last year when he led Jannik Sinner on Centre Court.
A semi-finalist at three of the four grand slams, it’s rare to have a player of his calibre on Irish soil but Dimitrov is far from the only player worth watching at the Dublin Challenger.
There’s an array of established professionals and exciting youngsters competing for the prize pool of €95,000, so let’s get into it.
The Draw
The top half is led by the no.1 seed Titouan Droguet. The Frenchman is coming straight from his home city after going out in round one of Roland Garros to the eventual semi-finalist, Jakub Mensik. While that was a step too far, the 24-year-old has made real inroads on the ATP Tour in 2026.
Droguet enjoyed two excellent surges in Montpellier and Bucharest earlier in the year where he made the semis and quarters respectively. At those events, he beat four players who’ve been top 50 players or better in Aleksandar Kovacevic, Tallon Griekspoor, Roberto Bautista Agut and Sebastian Baez.
Despite Droguet’s recent pedigree, this looks set to be a very competitive section. The second round could see Droguet face Switzerland’s Jerome Kym, a man who beat the Frenchman at the Lille Challenger in February.
The other seeded player in the top quarter is world no.155 Stefanos Sakellaridis, who starts against the former junior world no.1, Ivan Ivanov. There will be plenty of eyes on Ivanov, a 17-year-old rising star following in the footsteps of his compatriot Dimitrov.
Jurij Rodionov (153) and Nicolas Mejia (167) head the second quarter. Rodionov, a 27-year-old Austrian, has been a regular fixture in the top 200 for years and has eight Challenger titles to his name. Bogota native Mejia has steadily risen up the ladder in recent years and has won four Challengers to date.
Moving to the bottom half, Grigor Dimitrov has landed in the third quarter and will start against Luxembourg’s Chris Rodesch. While the 24-year-old has notched a couple of Challenger titles in 2026, the Bulgarian’s vast experience and ability on grass should prove telling here.
Assuming that Dimitrov makes it through, he will play the winner of an exciting opener between Ireland’s Conor Gannon and an Australian once ranked inside the top 20, Bernard Tomic. Once a teen phenomenon, Tomic has had a colourful career to say the least and comes in a little light on form.
Gannon has played steadily on the ITF circuit in 2026 and recently made the quarter-final of an M25 in Nottingham. It would be an enormous upset for the Irishman ranked outside the top 1000 to knock out a former Wimbledon quarter-finalist…but home fans will dream!
It’s likely to be a similar story for the Irish no.2, Peter Buldorini, who has also landed in this quarter. The 21-year-old will take on someone three years his junior in round one, Dutch prodigy Mees Rottgering. Like Ivanov, 18-year-old Rottgering is a former junior world no.1 whose now making an impact on the senior tour with a ranking inside the top 500.
The third quarter is rounded out by the no.3 seed, Kyrian Jacquet. Ranked just inside the top 150, the Frenchman won a Challenger this season in Bahrain where he recorded impressive victories over top 100 regulars Jacob Fearnley, Mattia Bellucci and Luca Nardi. The 25-year-old will be eyeing a last eight showdown with Dimitrov.
Finally, the last quarter is spearheaded by the second seed and world no.126, Francesco Maestrelli. A big man at 6’ 5”, the 23-year-old triumphed at a Challenger this year (Tenerife) and made the second round of the Australian Open where he lost to Novak Djokovic.
World no.154 Mark Lajal is the other seed in a quarter that also features the 2023 Wimbledon Boys’ champion Henry Searle, and Swedish no.1 Elias Ymer.
Depending on how qualifying goes, there may be some added drama in the Dublin draw. Former Australian Open doubles champion and highly accomplished singles player Thanasi Kokkinakis has taken a wildcard into qualies. I’m also intrigued by the presence there of China’s Yi Zhou. The 21-year-old showed his awesome talent last year as he defeated Michael Agwi in Ireland’s Davis Cup loss to China.
Where to watch
You can follow the draw and watch the action at the ATP's Challenger page.
This article was written in partnership with Tennis Ireland.
