ATP Challenger Tour veteran Szymon Walków looks to go a step further with new perspective

At 30 years old, Szymon Walków has built a reputation as one of Poland’s most accomplished doubles players on the ATP Challenger Tour.

Currently ranked world No. 145 with a career-high ranking of No. 86 in June 2022, Walków already holds 12 ATP Challenger doubles titles, his most recent coming in early September in Genoa alongside Mick Veldheer. From there, he traveled straight to his home tournament in Szczecin, eager to improve on his runner-up finish at last year’s Invest in Szczecin Open.

Fresh energy after a mid-season reset

“The season has been up and down—some good moments, some weaker. After the Kozerki Open, I felt I needed a break and a new perspective. I took three weeks off, rested, regained freshness, and that brought me the victory in Genoa,” Walków said in Szczecin.

During that break he mixed light training with quality time at home. “I played a padel tournament with Karol Drzewiecki, but mostly I spent time with family. My wife and a friend and I went to the seaside, relaxed, trained a bit with friends, then went home and worked hard again. That freshness gave me more fire.”

In doubles the margin is minimal—one ball, one lapse of concentration, one tiebreak. The best teams maintain a high level all year, but that doesn’t mean a lower-ranked team can’t beat the top.

Finding stability on the doubles court

Since dropping out of the Top 100, the main challenge has been finding a consistent partner. “It’s something a lot of players face, especially around rankings 130 to 150,” Walków explained. “I entered the Top 100 with Jan Zieliński. We had a good year, caught momentum and moved up as a team. Stability is important: you plan tournaments together, improve what’s not working, win and lose as a pair.”

Zieliński has since become a fixture on the ATP Tour. Walków points to timing and circumstances. “Janek had a great run with Hubert [Hurkacz], won an ATP 250 in Metz, then teamed with Hugo Nys, got into the Grand Slams, and they made it work. There was some luck, but also quality tennis. That’s why he went higher.”

Walków himself has played Grand Slams and big events and insists the gap between players ranked 100 to 150 and the elite is small. “In doubles the margin is minimal—one ball, one lapse of concentration, one tiebreak. The best teams maintain a high level all year, but that doesn’t mean a lower-ranked team can’t beat the top. At the US Open, Hubert and I beat a seeded pair, I think No. 4 in the world. We served well, got one or two breaks—that was enough.”

Still, the format can be frustrating. “You can lose several matches in a row on match tiebreaks. With advantage scoring and a full third set, maybe the better team would win more often. But the rules are set by others, and our job is to adapt.”

He also feels doubles deserves more respect. “Sometimes at the Grand Slams, it feels like doubles is treated second-class. From the organizers’ point of view, big names like Świątek, Sabalenka, Sinner or Alcaraz draw crowds. That’s what sells. But should it come at the expense of doubles and the history of the tournament? Doubles play is dynamic, spectacular, and full of twists. Recreational fans love to watch it. Maybe it could be promoted better—but that’s for the federations to decide.”

A lifelong passion for basketball

Away from tennis, Walków’s big sporting love is basketball. He follows both the Polish league and the NBA closely, especially his local team Śląsk Wrocław. “I’m a real fan. I go to games, follow transfers, know the league,” he says. He even runs an NBA fantasy league with fellow tennis players.

Walków has attended two NBA games: the first more than a decade ago, when he was a hitting partner for CoCo Vandeweghe. “She comes from a family deeply connected to the NBA—her uncle played for the New York Knicks and later was a vice-commissioner. We had any tickets we wanted. I went to a Clippers game at Staples Center. The second time was last year after tournaments in the U.S. I visited my friend Bartek Witke in Stamford and we went to a Knicks game at Madison Square Garden.”

His love of basketball goes back to childhood. “My dad played as a youth and later at university. He taught my brother and me to play, so basketball was always with us. It’s one of my favorite sports, if not the favorite.” Ultimately both brothers chose tennis. “My older brother started playing when a tennis hall opened near my dad’s workplace. Dad became passionate about tennis too and helped at the club. We spent whole days there and that’s how we went into tennis.”

Does he regret not choosing basketball? “It’s hard to say. I love basketball, but physically I don’t have a huge advantage there. I’m curious how life in a team sport would look—the locker room, shared trips, team atmosphere. That’s something I’d enjoy.”

Walków even tried to take his father, brother and basketball-playing nephew to EuroBasket to watch Poland face Luka Dončić’s Slovenia. “It would have been a great gift, but organizational issues got in the way. Hopefully there will be more chances, though I’m not sure Dončić will come to Poland again. Maybe someday I can arrange my tournaments to take the family to a basketball game.”

For now, Szymon Walków continues to chase success on the doubles court, refreshed after his Genoa triumph and motivated to go one step further.