From Europe to the Americas to Asia, the top two seeds in three Challenger tournaments all suffered early exits.

It is widely recognized that seeded players appear in tennis competitions regardless of the event level. Typically, seeds benefit from avoiding high-ranked opponents in the initial rounds, increasing their chances of advancing far or winning. Yet, exceptions happen. This week’s Challenger tournaments saw only one of the top two seeds advance to the final. So, in which Challengers did these seeds fall? And how did they perform overall? Today, this article will take you through the details.

This week featured three Challenger tournaments: the Nakhon Ratchasima Challenger, the Glasgow Challenger, and the Buenos Aires Challenger. The top seed at Nakhon Ratchasima was Japanese player Rio Noguchi, who recently won the first Challenger title of the 2026 season in Thailand. He cruised through the first round with a straight-sets victory over Greek player Saklaridis.

In the second round, Rio Noguchi faced Indian player Nagal. When the first set was tightly contested, Nagal retired due to injury, allowing Noguchi to advance by default. In the quarterfinals, despite losing the first set, Noguchi battled back to win two consecutive sets against Czech qualifier M. Gengel, securing a spot in the semifinals. There, he met wildcard Thai player M. Jones. Although Noguchi took the first set, he failed to maintain momentum and was overturned in the next two sets, ending his run with disappointment.

Kazakh player Skatov, a three-time Challenger champion, was the second seed at Nakhon Ratchasima. He survived a tough three-set battle in the first round against Croatian player Aduković to move forward. In round two, Skatov comfortably defeated Thai wildcard player Kasid to reach the quarterfinals. He then swept French player F. Bax to advance but was soundly beaten by Spain’s Martín-Tifón in the semifinals, falling short of the final.

Argentinian player Ro-Taverna, who has competed in Grand Slam main draws, was the top seed at the Buenos Aires Challenger. He faced an early scare in the first round, dropping the first set but winning the second to push the match to a decider. Leading in the final set, Romanian player G.A. Boitan retired, giving Ro-Taverna the win. However, in the second round, he was stunned in straight sets by compatriot J.M. La Serna in a major upset.

Last season’s finalist in two Challenger events, Lautaro Midón was the second seed at Buenos Aires. He fought through a three-set battle in the first round to overcome Brazilian Z.G.S. player W. Leite and advance. In the second round, Lautaro convincingly defeated Romanian qualifier S. Palosi to reach the quarterfinals, where he lost to Peruvian player Barrios.

British player Munday was the top seed at the Glasgow Challenger. He encountered stiff resistance in the first round from Czech qualifier M. Krumich, edging through a three-set match. In the second round, Munday defeated fellow Brit Gray in two tiebreak sets. However, his progress was halted in the quarterfinals when Czech player H. Barton beat him in straight sets.

French player Hidk was the second seed at the Glasgow Challenger. He upheld the seed’s reputation by consecutively defeating British qualifier Serl, German player Masur, British player Bloom, Slovak player Gombos, and Kazakh player Kukushkin to claim the title. Among the top two seeds across these three Challengers, five players fell early. Fans, which upset surprised you the most? That concludes today’s tennis story; stay tuned for more tomorrow.(Source: Tennis Home, Author: Yixin Jushi)