TOURNAMENT NOTES
TOURNAMENT NOTES as of August 4, 2015
THE COMERICA BANK CHALLENGER APTOS, CA • AUGUST 8-16
The Comerica Bank Challenger returns to Aptos for the 28th consecutive year. It is the second-longest running men’s event on the USTA Pro Circuit, trailing only Little Rock, Ark., which has been taking place for 34 years. The tournament increased its prize money from $75,000 to $100,000 in 2012 and is one of six $100,000 Challengers on the USTA Pro Circuit calendar this year.
Site: Seascape Sports Club – Aptos, Calif. . Websites: www.seascapesportsclub.com/challenger procircuit.usta.com Facebook: Seascape Sports Club Qualifying Draw Begins: Saturday, August 8 Main Draw Begins: Monday, August 10 Main Draw: 32 Singles / 16 Doubles
Aptos is also the last of three consecutive men’s hard-court tournaments (joining a $50,000 Challengers in Binghamton, N.Y., and Lexington, Ky.) that are part of the US Open Wild Card Challenge, which will award a men’s and women’s wild card into the 2015 US Open based on USTA Pro Circuit results. Along with these three men’s tournaments, the women’s tournaments that are part of the challenge are the $50,000 University of the Pacific USTA Pro Circuit Challenger in Stockton, Calif., held the week of July 13; the $50,000 FSP Gold River Women’s Challenger in Sacramento, Calif., held the week of July 20; and the $50,000 Kentucky Bank Tennis Championships in Lexington, Ky., held the week of July 27. Samantha Crawford, 20, earned the women’s US Open wild card.
Surface: Hard / Outdoor Prize Money: $100,000 Tournament Director: Judy Welsh, (831) 251-0004, [email protected] Co-Tournament Director: Paul Kepler, (831) 332-1500, [email protected] Tournament Press Contact: Hannah Stone, (951) 760-0923, [email protected] USTA Communications Contact: Amanda Korba, (914) 697-2219, [email protected]
PRIZE MONEY / POINTS SINGLES: Prize Money Ranking Points Winner $14,400 100 Runner-up $8,480 60 Semifinalist $5,020 35 Quarterfinalist $2,920 18 Round of 16 $1,720 8 Round of 32 $1,040 -
COMMUNITY EVENTS Friday, August 7: Nordic Naturals Wildcard Shootout, 5:00 p.m. Sunday, August 9: Pro-Am, 2:45 p.m.
Anthony Behar
DOUBLES: Prize Money (per team) Winner $6,200 Runner-up $3,600 Semifinalist $2,160 Quarterfinalist $1,280 Round of 16 $720
The American man and American woman who earn the most ATP and WTA ranking points at two of the three selected USTA Pro Circuit hard-court events will receive USTA
Larry James Photography
USTA PRO CIRCUIT RETURNS TO APTOS AS FINAL EVENT OF THE 2015 US OPEN WILD CARD CHALLENGE
TOURNAMENT INFORMATION
Bjorn Fratangelo is currently the leader in the US Open Wild Card Challenge and ranked a career-best No. 110 in the world. In 2011, he became the first American since John McEnroe in 1977 to win the French Open boys’ singles title.
wild cards to compete in the singles main draws of the US Open, which will be held Monday, Aug. 31, to Sunday, Sept. 13. Only players who do not receive direct entry into the US Open are eligible for the wild cards. This tournament will be streamed live on www.procircuit.usta.com. To follow the tournament, download the USTA Pro Circuit’s new phone app by searching “procircuit” in the app store. Notable players competing in the main draw include: Bjorn Fratangelo, the leader in the US Open Wild Card Challenge, who in 2011
Monday, August 10: USTA Member Day Tuesday, August 11: USTA NorCal League Day Wednesday, August 12: Junior Team Tennis Day Thursday, August 13: Comerica Bank Day Friday, August 14: Aptos Chamber Day
This year, Austin Krajicek played in Wimbledon qualifying and reached the singles quarterfinals of the ATP event in Memphis, Tenn.—his first ATP quarterfinal. He was a five-time All-American at Texas A&M and won the 2011 NCAA men’s doubles championship with Jeff Dadamo.
Sunday, August 16: Wheelchair Tennis Clinic, 10:30 a.m. *Player field subject to change
TOURNAMENT NOTES became the first American since John McEnroe in 1977 to win the French Open boys’ singles title. He is ranked a career-high No. 110 in the world after reaching a final and semifinal of ITF Pro Circuit Challengers in Italy this spring, as well as the final at the $50,000 USTA Pro Circuit Challenger in Binghamton, N.Y., and the semifinals at the $50,000 Challenger in Lexington, Ky., this summer. Fratangelo has won nine USTA Pro Circuit and ITF Pro Circuit singles titles over the last three years. As a junior player, he ranked as high as No. 2 in the ITF World Junior Rankings and competed on the Junior Davis Cup team. He is coached by USTA national coach Stanford Boster. Austin Krajicek, who played in Wimbledon qualifying this June. Krajieck has enjoyed a breakout year in 2015, reaching the singles quarterfinals of the ATP event in Memphis, Tenn.—his first ATP quarterfinal—and qualifying for and reaching the second round of the Miami Open to break into the Top 120 for the first time. In 2014, Krajicek reached the quarterfinals or better at 10 USTA Pro Circuit and ITF Pro Circuit events (winning a title in Colombia), and he also won three doubles titles, including the $100,000 USTA Pro Circuit Challenger in Vancouver. In addition, Krajicek qualified for the ATP grass-court event in Newport, R.I., and won his first-round match before losing to John Isner. Krajicek holds seven USTA Pro Circuit and ITF Pro Circuit singles titles and more than 20 doubles titles, and he peaked at No. 61 in the world in doubles in April. He was a five-time All-American at Texas A&M and won the 2011 NCAA men’s doubles championship with Jeff Dadamo. A standout junior player, Krajicek won the 2008 USTA Boys’ 18s National Championships, earning a wild card into the 2008 US Open men’s singles main draw. Krajicek is a distant relative of former Wimbledon champion Richard Krajicek. He has been training out of the USTA Training Center – West in Carson, Calif., with USTA collegiate coach Stephen Amritraj. Malek Jaziri of Tunisia, who peaked at No. 65 in the world this February after reaching the third round of the Australian Open. He has won 11 ITF Pro Circuit singles titles and 11 doubles titles in his career and also competed in each of the Grand Slam events. Somdev Devvarman of India, who played for the University of Virginia, where he reached three consecutive NCAA finals, winning the titles his junior (2007) and senior year (2008). He reached one ATP final in 2009, losing to 2014 US Open champion Marin Cilic. Devvarman has also won nine USTA Pro Circuit/ITF Pro Circuit singles titles and six doubles titles and represented India in Davis Cup competition. Notable players competing in qualifying include: Dennis Novikov, who represented the United States in the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto this summer, where he won the bronze medal in men’s singles. Novikov was the 2012 USTA Boys’ 18s national champion in singles and doubles. Those victories earned him wild card entries into each main draw at the 2012 US Open, where he became just the second USTA Boys’ 18s champ in 15 years (the other being Jack Sock) to advance to the second round in singles; he defeated 2013 Wimbledon semifinalist Jerzy Janowicz in the first round. Novikov completed his sophomore year at UCLA in 2013 and turned pro that summer. He won his first career USTA Pro Circuit title soon afterward, at the $10,000 Futures in Amelia Island, Fla., and had a strong 2014, winning three USTA Pro Circuit doubles titles and claiming four ITF singles titles. This year, he won his second USTA Pro Circuit singles title at the $15,000 Futures
in Calabasas, Calif., and captured his sixth and seventh USTA Pro Circuit doubles titles at the $50,000 Challenger in Tallahassee, Fla., and at the $15,000 Futures in Los Angeles. Born in Moscow, Novikov moved with his family to the U.S. as a 1-year-old and chose tennis over hockey, swimming and gymnastics. He is coached by his father, Vladimir, and occasionally trains out of the USTA Training Center – West in Carson, Calif. Stefan Kozlov, 17, who peaked at No. 2 in the world junior rankings last year. Kozlov reached the junior boys’ final at both Wimbledon and the Australian Open in 2014, as well as the quarterfinals at the junior US Open and French Open. At the All England Club, he fell to 2014 USTA Boys’ 18s champion Noah Rubin in the first allAmerican Wimbledon boys’ final since 1977. Also last year, Kozlov won the prestigious Orange Bowl singles and doubles titles, and in the pro ranks, he reached the final of the $100,000 USTA Pro Circuit Challenger in Sacramento, Calif., losing to current Top 50 player Sam Querrey. In reaching the Sacramento final at age 16, Kozlov became the youngest American to reach a Challenger final since Andre Agassi in 1986. So far in 2015, Kozlov has competed in the main draw of the ATP’s Memphis Open, won his first USTA Pro Circuit Challenger doubles title (in Maui, Hawaii), reached the singles final of the $10,000 Futures in Orange Park, Fla., and served as a practice partner for the U.S. Davis Cup team in Glasgow, Scotland. In April, he participated in the White House Easter Egg Roll, where he met President Obama. Kozlov trains both with his father, Andrei, at his dad’s tennis academy in Pembroke Pines, Fla., and at the USTA Training Center Headquarters in Boca Raton, Fla., with coach Nicolas Todero. Kozlov has also practiced, on occasion, with Novak Djokovic and other top pros. Noah Rubin, who finished his standout freshman year at Wake Forest in May and recently turned pro. At Wake Forest, Rubin finished the year ranked No. 5 in the ITA Singles Rankings, reached the NCAA singles final and also became the first player in ACC men’s tennis history to earn ACC Player and Freshman of the Year honors in one season and was also the first ACC men’s tennis Player of the Year in Wake Forest men’s tennis history. He was also the ITA Rookie of the Year and earned All-America honors. As a junior player, Rubin won the 2014 USTA Boys’ 18s national singles title and the Wimbledon junior title. At Wimbledon, Rubin won the first all-American boys’ singles final since 1977, topping Stefan Kozlov. He then made his Grand Slam men’s singles debut at the US Open after winning the USTA junior national title and claiming the accompanying wild card. This summer, Rubin has reached the final of the $15,000 Futures in Tulsa, Okla., and the semifinals at the $15,000 Futures in Wichita, Kan.; he also received a wild card into the ATP’s Hall of Fame Tennis Championships in Newport, R.I., last month. Rubin is a protégé of John McEnroe’s at his Randall’s Island, N.Y., academy. Rubin is playing as part of the USTA Collegiate National Team, a high-level training program designed to help America’s premier college players assimilate to professional tennis in a team-oriented environment by playing on the USTA Pro Circuit. Mackenzie McDonald, who is also playing as part of the USTA Collegiate National Team. McDonald recently completed his sophomore year at UCLA as the No. 3-ranked collegiate singles player in the country. In his freshman year, he compiled a 33-9 record, reaching the NCAA singles quarterfinals and helping lead the Bruins to the NCAA team semifinals. McDonald made history in 2013 during the Emirates Airline US Open Series, becoming the first unranked teen to qualify for an ATP Masters Series event, at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, beating Top 100 players Nicolas Mahut and two-time NCAA singles champion Steve Johnson *Player field subject to change
TOURNAMENT NOTES in qualifying. He holds two USTA Pro Circuit doubles titles. Alex Sarkissian, who reached the 2014 NCAA singles final as a redshirt sophomore while at Pepperdine. In doing so, he became only the third player in school history to reach the NCAA singles final; he also advanced to the NCAA doubles quarterfinals. With his success, Sarkissian received All-America honors in both singles and doubles. Sarkissian had much success in Mexico, Korea and China, this year, where he won two singles titles and advanced to two additional singles finals. Also this year, Sarkissian won his first USTA Pro Circuit singles title at the $15,000 Futures in Harlingen, Texas. Daniel Nguyen, who was a former standout college player at USC. Nguyen won three USTA Pro Circuit and ITF singles titles in 2014, including the $10,000 USTA Pro Circuit Futures in Godfrey, Ill. He holds seven singles titles overall. In doubles, he captured the $10,000 Futures in Rochester, N.Y., in 2014, and he holds five combined USTA Pro Circuit and ITF doubles titles. Nguyen competed in his first USTA Pro Circuit event since mid-April at the $50,000 Challenger in Winnetka, Ill., after competing overseas in Korea and Great Britain during the late spring, and reached the final. He competed in the main draw of the men’s doubles event at the 2009 US Open, where he reached the second round. Ryan Sweeting, who has played in just seven tournaments since March 2013 due to injury. Sweeting, who is married to Big Bang Theory actress Kaley Cuoco, won the ATP’s U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship in Houston in 2011, when he peaked at a career-high No. 64 in the world. The 2005 US Open boys’ singles champion also holds three singles titles and three doubles titles on the USTA Pro Circuit. 2006 Aptos singles champion Alex Kuznetsov, who won the 2013 Har-Tru USTA Pro Circuit Wild Card Challenge to earn a spot in the French Open main draw. Following Roland Garros, Kuznetsov qualified for Wimbledon and won the $50,000 USTA Pro Circuit Challenger in Binghamton, N.Y. Those results drove Kuznetsov’s ranking up to a career-high No. 120 in the world. In 2014, he qualified for and reached the quarterfinals of the ATP event in Memphis, Tenn., qualified for the main draw at Wimbledon and reached the quarterfinals or better at three USTA Pro Circuit Challengers. This year, Kuznetsov has reached the quarterfinals of the $100,000 USTA Pro Circuit Challenger in Dallas and competed in Australian Open qualifying. As a junior, he was the 2004 French Open boys’ singles runner-up (to Gael Monfils). Kuzetsov is a native of Kiev, Ukraine, where his grandfather was a handball champion. In 2005, he was involved in a car accident that broke his right femur and required the insertion of a titanium rod and screw. Kuznetsov came back to play in his first US Open main draw in 2006. He has played in all four Grand Slam events in his career, reaching the second round of the Australian Open in 2007. Mitchell Krueger, who was the top-ranked American junior boy in 2012, peaking at a career-high No. 5 in the world junior rankings. Krueger advanced to the boys’ singles semifinals at the French Open and Wimbledon in 2012 and turned pro that July. He captured his first pro singles title in 2013 while competing overseas at a clay-court ITF event in the Netherlands, and this year he won his second title—and first USTA Pro Circuit crown—at the $15,000 Futures in Los Angeles. He also had a strong spring on the USTA Pro Circuit, reaching the quarterfinals at $50,000 Challengers in Savannah, Ga., and Tallahassee, Fla., and the final at the $15,000 Futures in Wichita, Kan., this June. Krueger spent the last quarter
of 2014 competing in Canada and Australia, winning a doubles title in Australia and reaching the singles quarterfinals or better at six events. Krueger comes from a tennis-playing family; his father played college tennis at Texas A&M University and his mother is a tennis coach and played at Louisiana Tech. Marcos Giron, who won the 2014 NCAA singles title as a junior at UCLA and finished the year as the No. 1 college tennis player, as ranked by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association. Giron became the 11th Bruin to win the NCAA men’s singles crown and the first to do so in eight years. On the strength of his NCAA title, Giron received a wild card into the 2014 US Open, where he lost to fellow American John Isner in the first round. He rebounded to claim the men’s title at the inaugural US Open American Collegiate Invitational. Also in 2014, Giron won the third USTA Pro Circuit singles title of his career at the $10,000 Futures in Calabasas, Calif., and served as a Davis Cup practice partner for the team’s World Group Playoff in Chicago. Through those results, Giron climbed nearly 200 spots in the ATP World Tour Rankings last year. Eric Quigley, who was the 2012 NCAA singles runner-up for the University of Kentucky. Quigley is one of the most decorated tennis players in Wildcats history, earning five All-America honors between singles and doubles. In 2008, he became the first player from the state of Kentucky in 34 years to win four consecutive high school state singles titles. In 2014, Quigley reached the singles final at the $15,000 USTA Pro Circuit clay-court event in Boynton Beach, Fla., and won the first two USTA Pro Circuit doubles titles of his career. He also won an ITF Pro Circuit doubles title in Mexico at the end of the year. This year, Quigley qualified for the ATP event in Delray Beach, Fla., and won the men’s doubles title at the $15,000 USTA Pro Circuit Futures in Long Beach, Calif., with Nicolas Meister, as well as a doubles title at an ITF Pro Circuit event in Nigeria.
Many current and former ATP World Tour stars have found success in Aptos. Twins Bob and Mike Bryan, who won the Aptos doubles titles in 1998 and 2000, have won 16 Grand Slam tournament titles together and hold the all-time Open Era record of 107 men’s doubles titles. The Bryans have also represented Team USA in Davis Cup since 2003 and captured gold for the U.S. at the 2012 London Olympics. Bob won the Aptos singles title in 2000. 2005 singles champion Andy Murray, from Great Britain, who peaked at No. 2 in the world in August 2009 and has won 34 career ATP World Tour singles titles. Murray won Wimbledon in 2013 and the US Open in 2012, in addition to capturing gold for Great Britain at the 2012 London Olympics. Patrick Rafter, the 1993 Aptos singles champion, peaked at No. 1 in the world in 1999 after winning back-to-back US Opens in 1997 and 1998. Now retired, Rafter finished his Hall of Fame career with 11 ATP World Tour singles titles and 10 doubles titles Daniel Nestor, the 1995 Aptos singles champion, peaked at No. 1 in the world in doubles in 2002 and has won 87 career doubles titles, including two titles this year. He has won eight Grand Slam doubles titles (the French Open four times, Wimbledon two times, and the US Open and Australian Open once). He also won the gold medal in doubles at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. *Player field subject to change
TOURNAMENT NOTES APTOS PAST WINNERS Singles
Doubles
Year
Winner
Runner-Up
Year
Winner
2014
Marcos Baghdatis (CYP)
Mikhail Kukushkin (KAZ)
2014
Ruben Bemelmans (BEL) – Laurynas Grigelis (LTU)
2013
Bradley Klahn (USA)
Daniel Evans (GBR)
2013
Jonathan Erlich (ISR) – Andy Ram (ISR)
2012
Steve Johnson (USA)
Robert Farah (COL)
2012
Rik de Voest (RSA) – John Peers (AUS)
2011
Laurynas Grigelis (LTU)
Ilija Bozoljac (SRB)
2011
Carsten Ball (AUS) – Chris Guccione (AUS)
2010
Marinko Matosevic (AUS)
Donald Young (USA)
2010
Carsten Ball (AUS) – Chris Guccione (AUS)
2009
Chris Guccione (AUS)
Nick Lindahl (AUS)
2009
Carsten Ball (AUS) – Chris Guccione (AUS)
2008
Kevin Kim (USA)
Andrea Stoppini (ITA)
2008
Noam Okun (ISR) – Amir Weintraub (ISR)
2007
Donald Young (USA)
Bobby Reynolds (USA)
2007
Rajeev Ram (USA) – Bobby Reynolds (USA)
2006
Alex Kuznetsov (USA)
Go Soeda (JPN)
2006
Prakash Amritraj (IND) – Rohan Bopanna (IND)
2005
Andy Murray (GBR)
Rajeev Ram (USA)
2005
Nathan Healey (AUS) – Eric Taino (PHI)
2004
Kevin Kim (USA)
Frank Dancevic (CAN)
2004
Huntley Montgomery (USA) – Tripp Phillips (USA)
2003
Jeff Salzenstein (USA)
Dmitry Tursunov (RUS)
2003
Jan Hernych (CZE) – Uros Vico (ITA)
2002
Brian Vahaly (USA)
Noam Behr (ISR)
2002
Amir Hadad (ISR) – Martin Vassallo (ARG)
2001
Jeff Salzenstein (USA)
Jeff Morrison (USA)
2001
Brandon Hawk (USA) – Robert Kendrick (USA)
2000
Bob Bryan (USA)
Kevin Kim (USA)
2000
Bob Bryan (USA) – Mike Bryan (USA)
1999
Michael Hill (AUS)
Harel Levy (ISR)
1999
Michael Hill (AUS) – Scott Humphries (USA)
1998
Cecil Mamiit (PHI)
Takao Suzuki (JPN)
1998
Bob Bryan (USA) – Mike Bryan (USA)
1997
Jan-Michael Gambill (USA)
Wade McGuire (USA)
1997
Sebastien LeBlanc (CAN) – Jocelyn Robichaud (CAN)
1996
Albert Chang (CAN)
Brian MacPhie (USA)
1996
Sebastien LeBlanc (CAN) – Jocelyn Robichaud (CAN)
1995
Daniel Nestor (CAN)
Chris Woodruff (USA)
1995
Sebastien LeBlanc (CAN) – Brian MacPhie (USA)
1994
Shuzo Matsuoka (JPN)
Gianluca Pozzi (ITA)
1994
Brian MacPhie (USA) – Alex O’Brien (USA)
1993
Patrick Rafter (AUS)
Cristiano Caratti (ITA)
1993
Gilad Bloom (ISR) – Christian Saceanu (GER)
1992
Alex O’Brien (USA)
Byron Black (ZIM)
1992
Paul Annacone (USA) – Alex O’Brien (USA)
1991
Chuck Adams (USA)
Bryan Shelton (USA)
1991
Nduka Odizor (NGR) – Bryan Shelton (USA)
1990
Henrik Holm (SWE)
Brian Garrow (USA)
1990
Jeff Brown (USA) – Scott Melville (USA)
1989
Mark Kaplan (RSA)
Robbie Weiss (USA)
1989
Steve DeVries (USA) – Ted Scherman (USA)
1988
Brad Pearce (USA)
Tim Pawsat (USA)
1988
Jeff Klaparda (USA) – Peter Palandjian (USA)
TOURNAMENT NOTES U S TA P R O C I R C U I T With approximately 90 tournaments hosted annually throughout the country and prize money ranging from $10,000 to $100,000, the USTA Pro Circuit is the pathway to the US Open and tour-level competition for aspiring tennis players and a frequent battleground for established professionals. The USTA launched its Pro Circuit in 1979 to provide players with the opportunity to gain professional ranking points, and it has since grown to become the largest developmental tennis circuit in the world, offering nearly $3 million in prize money. Last year, more than 1,000 men and women from more than 70 countries competed in cities nationwide. Victoria Azarenka, Eugenie Bouchard, John Isner, Andy Murray, Kei Nishikori, Sam Querrey, Maria Sharapova and Caroline Wozniacki are among today’s top stars who began their careers on the USTA Pro Circuit. Amber Alva
More recently, the USTA Pro Circuit helped further the careers of two young Americans—Stefan Kozlov and Nicole Gibbs. Runner-up in 2014 at the junior championships of the Australian Open and Wimbledon, Kozlov reached the final of the Sacramento Challenger last October at age 16, becoming the youngest American to reach a Challenger final since Andre Agassi in 1986. That result vaulted Kozlov to No. 443 in the world, making him the youngest player in the ATP World Tour Top 500. He concluded 2014 by sweeping Stefan Kozlov the singles and doubles titles at the prestigious Orange Bowl Junior Tennis Championships, locking down a No. 3 junior world ranking. Gibbs, in her first full season as a professional after capturing back-to-back NCAA singles championships in 2012 and 2013, won the women’s USTA Pro Circuit US Open Wild Card Challenge in 2014. After claiming the title at the $50,000 USTA Pro Circuit event in Carson, Calif., Gibbs clinched the US Open wild card by advancing to the final of the $50,000 tournament in Lexington, Ky., her last USTA Pro Circuit event of the season. Gibbs went on to reach the third round at the US Open, scoring a pair of Top 50 victories along the way. Two weeks after the US Open, as a qualifier at Seoul, she reached her first WTA quarterfinal, which boosted her into the WTA Top 100 for the first time. Gibbs earned the second-most WTA ranking points of any American playing the USTA Pro Circuit in 2014.
P L AY E R D E V E L O P M E N T The USTA Player Development program identifies and develops the next generation of American champions by surrounding the top junior players and young pros with the resources, facilities and coaching they need to reach their maximum potential. The Player Development program is based at the USTA Training Center Headquarters in Boca Raton, Fla., and also utilizes Training Centers in Carson, Calif., and Flushing, N.Y., as well as a series of Certified Regional Training Centers located throughout the continental United States.
YOUTH TENNIS The USTA is making it easier and more fun for kids to get into the game—and stay in the game. Kids are learning to play faster than ever before through the USTA’s youth initiative, which is geared toward getting more kids to participate in tennis using modified equipment and courts tailored to a child’s size. For more information, visit YouthTennis.com.
NJTL Founded in 1969 by Arthur Ashe, along with Charlie Pasarell and Sheridan Snyder, the USTA/National Junior Tennis & Learning (NJTL) network is a nationwide group of more than 625 non-profit youth development organizations that provide free or low-cost tennis, education and life skills programming to more than 350,000 children each year. Celebrating its 45th anniversary this year, NJTL is one of the USTA’s largest community-based offerings.
U S O P E N N AT I O N A L P L AY O F F S The USTA launched the US Open National Playoffs in 2010, making the US Open “open” to anyone age 14+ and of all skill levels. Last year, more than 1,200 players competed in 13 Sectional Qualifying Tournaments nationwide for a 2014 US Open Qualifying Tournament wild card. A mixed doubles element also was held, with the winning team earning a main draw mixed doubles wild card. This year, players again competed in singles and mixed doubles, but also had the chance to play in the new men’s and women’s doubles competition to earn main draw doubles wild cards. The US Open National Playoffs Championships are Aug. 21-29. For more information and the complete schedule, visit www.usopen.org/NationalPlayoffs.
THE COMERICA BANK CHALLENGER APTOS, CA • AUGUST 8-16
The Comerica Bank Challenger returns to Aptos for the 28th consecutive year. It is the second-longest running men’s event on the USTA Pro Circuit, trailing only Little Rock, Ark., which has been taking place for 34 years. The tournament increased its prize money from $75,000 to $100,000 in 2012 and is one of six $100,000 Challengers on the USTA Pro Circuit calendar this year.
Site: Seascape Sports Club – Aptos, Calif. . Websites: www.seascapesportsclub.com/challenger procircuit.usta.com Facebook: Seascape Sports Club Qualifying Draw Begins: Saturday, August 8 Main Draw Begins: Monday, August 10 Main Draw: 32 Singles / 16 Doubles
Aptos is also the last of three consecutive men’s hard-court tournaments (joining a $50,000 Challengers in Binghamton, N.Y., and Lexington, Ky.) that are part of the US Open Wild Card Challenge, which will award a men’s and women’s wild card into the 2015 US Open based on USTA Pro Circuit results. Along with these three men’s tournaments, the women’s tournaments that are part of the challenge are the $50,000 University of the Pacific USTA Pro Circuit Challenger in Stockton, Calif., held the week of July 13; the $50,000 FSP Gold River Women’s Challenger in Sacramento, Calif., held the week of July 20; and the $50,000 Kentucky Bank Tennis Championships in Lexington, Ky., held the week of July 27. Samantha Crawford, 20, earned the women’s US Open wild card.
Surface: Hard / Outdoor Prize Money: $100,000 Tournament Director: Judy Welsh, (831) 251-0004, [email protected] Co-Tournament Director: Paul Kepler, (831) 332-1500, [email protected] Tournament Press Contact: Hannah Stone, (951) 760-0923, [email protected] USTA Communications Contact: Amanda Korba, (914) 697-2219, [email protected]
PRIZE MONEY / POINTS SINGLES: Prize Money Ranking Points Winner $14,400 100 Runner-up $8,480 60 Semifinalist $5,020 35 Quarterfinalist $2,920 18 Round of 16 $1,720 8 Round of 32 $1,040 -
COMMUNITY EVENTS Friday, August 7: Nordic Naturals Wildcard Shootout, 5:00 p.m. Sunday, August 9: Pro-Am, 2:45 p.m.
Anthony Behar
DOUBLES: Prize Money (per team) Winner $6,200 Runner-up $3,600 Semifinalist $2,160 Quarterfinalist $1,280 Round of 16 $720
The American man and American woman who earn the most ATP and WTA ranking points at two of the three selected USTA Pro Circuit hard-court events will receive USTA
Larry James Photography
USTA PRO CIRCUIT RETURNS TO APTOS AS FINAL EVENT OF THE 2015 US OPEN WILD CARD CHALLENGE
TOURNAMENT INFORMATION
Bjorn Fratangelo is currently the leader in the US Open Wild Card Challenge and ranked a career-best No. 110 in the world. In 2011, he became the first American since John McEnroe in 1977 to win the French Open boys’ singles title.
wild cards to compete in the singles main draws of the US Open, which will be held Monday, Aug. 31, to Sunday, Sept. 13. Only players who do not receive direct entry into the US Open are eligible for the wild cards. This tournament will be streamed live on www.procircuit.usta.com. To follow the tournament, download the USTA Pro Circuit’s new phone app by searching “procircuit” in the app store. Notable players competing in the main draw include: Bjorn Fratangelo, the leader in the US Open Wild Card Challenge, who in 2011
Monday, August 10: USTA Member Day Tuesday, August 11: USTA NorCal League Day Wednesday, August 12: Junior Team Tennis Day Thursday, August 13: Comerica Bank Day Friday, August 14: Aptos Chamber Day
This year, Austin Krajicek played in Wimbledon qualifying and reached the singles quarterfinals of the ATP event in Memphis, Tenn.—his first ATP quarterfinal. He was a five-time All-American at Texas A&M and won the 2011 NCAA men’s doubles championship with Jeff Dadamo.
Sunday, August 16: Wheelchair Tennis Clinic, 10:30 a.m. *Player field subject to change
TOURNAMENT NOTES became the first American since John McEnroe in 1977 to win the French Open boys’ singles title. He is ranked a career-high No. 110 in the world after reaching a final and semifinal of ITF Pro Circuit Challengers in Italy this spring, as well as the final at the $50,000 USTA Pro Circuit Challenger in Binghamton, N.Y., and the semifinals at the $50,000 Challenger in Lexington, Ky., this summer. Fratangelo has won nine USTA Pro Circuit and ITF Pro Circuit singles titles over the last three years. As a junior player, he ranked as high as No. 2 in the ITF World Junior Rankings and competed on the Junior Davis Cup team. He is coached by USTA national coach Stanford Boster. Austin Krajicek, who played in Wimbledon qualifying this June. Krajieck has enjoyed a breakout year in 2015, reaching the singles quarterfinals of the ATP event in Memphis, Tenn.—his first ATP quarterfinal—and qualifying for and reaching the second round of the Miami Open to break into the Top 120 for the first time. In 2014, Krajicek reached the quarterfinals or better at 10 USTA Pro Circuit and ITF Pro Circuit events (winning a title in Colombia), and he also won three doubles titles, including the $100,000 USTA Pro Circuit Challenger in Vancouver. In addition, Krajicek qualified for the ATP grass-court event in Newport, R.I., and won his first-round match before losing to John Isner. Krajicek holds seven USTA Pro Circuit and ITF Pro Circuit singles titles and more than 20 doubles titles, and he peaked at No. 61 in the world in doubles in April. He was a five-time All-American at Texas A&M and won the 2011 NCAA men’s doubles championship with Jeff Dadamo. A standout junior player, Krajicek won the 2008 USTA Boys’ 18s National Championships, earning a wild card into the 2008 US Open men’s singles main draw. Krajicek is a distant relative of former Wimbledon champion Richard Krajicek. He has been training out of the USTA Training Center – West in Carson, Calif., with USTA collegiate coach Stephen Amritraj. Malek Jaziri of Tunisia, who peaked at No. 65 in the world this February after reaching the third round of the Australian Open. He has won 11 ITF Pro Circuit singles titles and 11 doubles titles in his career and also competed in each of the Grand Slam events. Somdev Devvarman of India, who played for the University of Virginia, where he reached three consecutive NCAA finals, winning the titles his junior (2007) and senior year (2008). He reached one ATP final in 2009, losing to 2014 US Open champion Marin Cilic. Devvarman has also won nine USTA Pro Circuit/ITF Pro Circuit singles titles and six doubles titles and represented India in Davis Cup competition. Notable players competing in qualifying include: Dennis Novikov, who represented the United States in the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto this summer, where he won the bronze medal in men’s singles. Novikov was the 2012 USTA Boys’ 18s national champion in singles and doubles. Those victories earned him wild card entries into each main draw at the 2012 US Open, where he became just the second USTA Boys’ 18s champ in 15 years (the other being Jack Sock) to advance to the second round in singles; he defeated 2013 Wimbledon semifinalist Jerzy Janowicz in the first round. Novikov completed his sophomore year at UCLA in 2013 and turned pro that summer. He won his first career USTA Pro Circuit title soon afterward, at the $10,000 Futures in Amelia Island, Fla., and had a strong 2014, winning three USTA Pro Circuit doubles titles and claiming four ITF singles titles. This year, he won his second USTA Pro Circuit singles title at the $15,000 Futures
in Calabasas, Calif., and captured his sixth and seventh USTA Pro Circuit doubles titles at the $50,000 Challenger in Tallahassee, Fla., and at the $15,000 Futures in Los Angeles. Born in Moscow, Novikov moved with his family to the U.S. as a 1-year-old and chose tennis over hockey, swimming and gymnastics. He is coached by his father, Vladimir, and occasionally trains out of the USTA Training Center – West in Carson, Calif. Stefan Kozlov, 17, who peaked at No. 2 in the world junior rankings last year. Kozlov reached the junior boys’ final at both Wimbledon and the Australian Open in 2014, as well as the quarterfinals at the junior US Open and French Open. At the All England Club, he fell to 2014 USTA Boys’ 18s champion Noah Rubin in the first allAmerican Wimbledon boys’ final since 1977. Also last year, Kozlov won the prestigious Orange Bowl singles and doubles titles, and in the pro ranks, he reached the final of the $100,000 USTA Pro Circuit Challenger in Sacramento, Calif., losing to current Top 50 player Sam Querrey. In reaching the Sacramento final at age 16, Kozlov became the youngest American to reach a Challenger final since Andre Agassi in 1986. So far in 2015, Kozlov has competed in the main draw of the ATP’s Memphis Open, won his first USTA Pro Circuit Challenger doubles title (in Maui, Hawaii), reached the singles final of the $10,000 Futures in Orange Park, Fla., and served as a practice partner for the U.S. Davis Cup team in Glasgow, Scotland. In April, he participated in the White House Easter Egg Roll, where he met President Obama. Kozlov trains both with his father, Andrei, at his dad’s tennis academy in Pembroke Pines, Fla., and at the USTA Training Center Headquarters in Boca Raton, Fla., with coach Nicolas Todero. Kozlov has also practiced, on occasion, with Novak Djokovic and other top pros. Noah Rubin, who finished his standout freshman year at Wake Forest in May and recently turned pro. At Wake Forest, Rubin finished the year ranked No. 5 in the ITA Singles Rankings, reached the NCAA singles final and also became the first player in ACC men’s tennis history to earn ACC Player and Freshman of the Year honors in one season and was also the first ACC men’s tennis Player of the Year in Wake Forest men’s tennis history. He was also the ITA Rookie of the Year and earned All-America honors. As a junior player, Rubin won the 2014 USTA Boys’ 18s national singles title and the Wimbledon junior title. At Wimbledon, Rubin won the first all-American boys’ singles final since 1977, topping Stefan Kozlov. He then made his Grand Slam men’s singles debut at the US Open after winning the USTA junior national title and claiming the accompanying wild card. This summer, Rubin has reached the final of the $15,000 Futures in Tulsa, Okla., and the semifinals at the $15,000 Futures in Wichita, Kan.; he also received a wild card into the ATP’s Hall of Fame Tennis Championships in Newport, R.I., last month. Rubin is a protégé of John McEnroe’s at his Randall’s Island, N.Y., academy. Rubin is playing as part of the USTA Collegiate National Team, a high-level training program designed to help America’s premier college players assimilate to professional tennis in a team-oriented environment by playing on the USTA Pro Circuit. Mackenzie McDonald, who is also playing as part of the USTA Collegiate National Team. McDonald recently completed his sophomore year at UCLA as the No. 3-ranked collegiate singles player in the country. In his freshman year, he compiled a 33-9 record, reaching the NCAA singles quarterfinals and helping lead the Bruins to the NCAA team semifinals. McDonald made history in 2013 during the Emirates Airline US Open Series, becoming the first unranked teen to qualify for an ATP Masters Series event, at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, beating Top 100 players Nicolas Mahut and two-time NCAA singles champion Steve Johnson *Player field subject to change
TOURNAMENT NOTES in qualifying. He holds two USTA Pro Circuit doubles titles. Alex Sarkissian, who reached the 2014 NCAA singles final as a redshirt sophomore while at Pepperdine. In doing so, he became only the third player in school history to reach the NCAA singles final; he also advanced to the NCAA doubles quarterfinals. With his success, Sarkissian received All-America honors in both singles and doubles. Sarkissian had much success in Mexico, Korea and China, this year, where he won two singles titles and advanced to two additional singles finals. Also this year, Sarkissian won his first USTA Pro Circuit singles title at the $15,000 Futures in Harlingen, Texas. Daniel Nguyen, who was a former standout college player at USC. Nguyen won three USTA Pro Circuit and ITF singles titles in 2014, including the $10,000 USTA Pro Circuit Futures in Godfrey, Ill. He holds seven singles titles overall. In doubles, he captured the $10,000 Futures in Rochester, N.Y., in 2014, and he holds five combined USTA Pro Circuit and ITF doubles titles. Nguyen competed in his first USTA Pro Circuit event since mid-April at the $50,000 Challenger in Winnetka, Ill., after competing overseas in Korea and Great Britain during the late spring, and reached the final. He competed in the main draw of the men’s doubles event at the 2009 US Open, where he reached the second round. Ryan Sweeting, who has played in just seven tournaments since March 2013 due to injury. Sweeting, who is married to Big Bang Theory actress Kaley Cuoco, won the ATP’s U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship in Houston in 2011, when he peaked at a career-high No. 64 in the world. The 2005 US Open boys’ singles champion also holds three singles titles and three doubles titles on the USTA Pro Circuit. 2006 Aptos singles champion Alex Kuznetsov, who won the 2013 Har-Tru USTA Pro Circuit Wild Card Challenge to earn a spot in the French Open main draw. Following Roland Garros, Kuznetsov qualified for Wimbledon and won the $50,000 USTA Pro Circuit Challenger in Binghamton, N.Y. Those results drove Kuznetsov’s ranking up to a career-high No. 120 in the world. In 2014, he qualified for and reached the quarterfinals of the ATP event in Memphis, Tenn., qualified for the main draw at Wimbledon and reached the quarterfinals or better at three USTA Pro Circuit Challengers. This year, Kuznetsov has reached the quarterfinals of the $100,000 USTA Pro Circuit Challenger in Dallas and competed in Australian Open qualifying. As a junior, he was the 2004 French Open boys’ singles runner-up (to Gael Monfils). Kuzetsov is a native of Kiev, Ukraine, where his grandfather was a handball champion. In 2005, he was involved in a car accident that broke his right femur and required the insertion of a titanium rod and screw. Kuznetsov came back to play in his first US Open main draw in 2006. He has played in all four Grand Slam events in his career, reaching the second round of the Australian Open in 2007. Mitchell Krueger, who was the top-ranked American junior boy in 2012, peaking at a career-high No. 5 in the world junior rankings. Krueger advanced to the boys’ singles semifinals at the French Open and Wimbledon in 2012 and turned pro that July. He captured his first pro singles title in 2013 while competing overseas at a clay-court ITF event in the Netherlands, and this year he won his second title—and first USTA Pro Circuit crown—at the $15,000 Futures in Los Angeles. He also had a strong spring on the USTA Pro Circuit, reaching the quarterfinals at $50,000 Challengers in Savannah, Ga., and Tallahassee, Fla., and the final at the $15,000 Futures in Wichita, Kan., this June. Krueger spent the last quarter
of 2014 competing in Canada and Australia, winning a doubles title in Australia and reaching the singles quarterfinals or better at six events. Krueger comes from a tennis-playing family; his father played college tennis at Texas A&M University and his mother is a tennis coach and played at Louisiana Tech. Marcos Giron, who won the 2014 NCAA singles title as a junior at UCLA and finished the year as the No. 1 college tennis player, as ranked by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association. Giron became the 11th Bruin to win the NCAA men’s singles crown and the first to do so in eight years. On the strength of his NCAA title, Giron received a wild card into the 2014 US Open, where he lost to fellow American John Isner in the first round. He rebounded to claim the men’s title at the inaugural US Open American Collegiate Invitational. Also in 2014, Giron won the third USTA Pro Circuit singles title of his career at the $10,000 Futures in Calabasas, Calif., and served as a Davis Cup practice partner for the team’s World Group Playoff in Chicago. Through those results, Giron climbed nearly 200 spots in the ATP World Tour Rankings last year. Eric Quigley, who was the 2012 NCAA singles runner-up for the University of Kentucky. Quigley is one of the most decorated tennis players in Wildcats history, earning five All-America honors between singles and doubles. In 2008, he became the first player from the state of Kentucky in 34 years to win four consecutive high school state singles titles. In 2014, Quigley reached the singles final at the $15,000 USTA Pro Circuit clay-court event in Boynton Beach, Fla., and won the first two USTA Pro Circuit doubles titles of his career. He also won an ITF Pro Circuit doubles title in Mexico at the end of the year. This year, Quigley qualified for the ATP event in Delray Beach, Fla., and won the men’s doubles title at the $15,000 USTA Pro Circuit Futures in Long Beach, Calif., with Nicolas Meister, as well as a doubles title at an ITF Pro Circuit event in Nigeria.
Many current and former ATP World Tour stars have found success in Aptos. Twins Bob and Mike Bryan, who won the Aptos doubles titles in 1998 and 2000, have won 16 Grand Slam tournament titles together and hold the all-time Open Era record of 107 men’s doubles titles. The Bryans have also represented Team USA in Davis Cup since 2003 and captured gold for the U.S. at the 2012 London Olympics. Bob won the Aptos singles title in 2000. 2005 singles champion Andy Murray, from Great Britain, who peaked at No. 2 in the world in August 2009 and has won 34 career ATP World Tour singles titles. Murray won Wimbledon in 2013 and the US Open in 2012, in addition to capturing gold for Great Britain at the 2012 London Olympics. Patrick Rafter, the 1993 Aptos singles champion, peaked at No. 1 in the world in 1999 after winning back-to-back US Opens in 1997 and 1998. Now retired, Rafter finished his Hall of Fame career with 11 ATP World Tour singles titles and 10 doubles titles Daniel Nestor, the 1995 Aptos singles champion, peaked at No. 1 in the world in doubles in 2002 and has won 87 career doubles titles, including two titles this year. He has won eight Grand Slam doubles titles (the French Open four times, Wimbledon two times, and the US Open and Australian Open once). He also won the gold medal in doubles at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. *Player field subject to change
TOURNAMENT NOTES APTOS PAST WINNERS Singles
Doubles
Year
Winner
Runner-Up
Year
Winner
2014
Marcos Baghdatis (CYP)
Mikhail Kukushkin (KAZ)
2014
Ruben Bemelmans (BEL) – Laurynas Grigelis (LTU)
2013
Bradley Klahn (USA)
Daniel Evans (GBR)
2013
Jonathan Erlich (ISR) – Andy Ram (ISR)
2012
Steve Johnson (USA)
Robert Farah (COL)
2012
Rik de Voest (RSA) – John Peers (AUS)
2011
Laurynas Grigelis (LTU)
Ilija Bozoljac (SRB)
2011
Carsten Ball (AUS) – Chris Guccione (AUS)
2010
Marinko Matosevic (AUS)
Donald Young (USA)
2010
Carsten Ball (AUS) – Chris Guccione (AUS)
2009
Chris Guccione (AUS)
Nick Lindahl (AUS)
2009
Carsten Ball (AUS) – Chris Guccione (AUS)
2008
Kevin Kim (USA)
Andrea Stoppini (ITA)
2008
Noam Okun (ISR) – Amir Weintraub (ISR)
2007
Donald Young (USA)
Bobby Reynolds (USA)
2007
Rajeev Ram (USA) – Bobby Reynolds (USA)
2006
Alex Kuznetsov (USA)
Go Soeda (JPN)
2006
Prakash Amritraj (IND) – Rohan Bopanna (IND)
2005
Andy Murray (GBR)
Rajeev Ram (USA)
2005
Nathan Healey (AUS) – Eric Taino (PHI)
2004
Kevin Kim (USA)
Frank Dancevic (CAN)
2004
Huntley Montgomery (USA) – Tripp Phillips (USA)
2003
Jeff Salzenstein (USA)
Dmitry Tursunov (RUS)
2003
Jan Hernych (CZE) – Uros Vico (ITA)
2002
Brian Vahaly (USA)
Noam Behr (ISR)
2002
Amir Hadad (ISR) – Martin Vassallo (ARG)
2001
Jeff Salzenstein (USA)
Jeff Morrison (USA)
2001
Brandon Hawk (USA) – Robert Kendrick (USA)
2000
Bob Bryan (USA)
Kevin Kim (USA)
2000
Bob Bryan (USA) – Mike Bryan (USA)
1999
Michael Hill (AUS)
Harel Levy (ISR)
1999
Michael Hill (AUS) – Scott Humphries (USA)
1998
Cecil Mamiit (PHI)
Takao Suzuki (JPN)
1998
Bob Bryan (USA) – Mike Bryan (USA)
1997
Jan-Michael Gambill (USA)
Wade McGuire (USA)
1997
Sebastien LeBlanc (CAN) – Jocelyn Robichaud (CAN)
1996
Albert Chang (CAN)
Brian MacPhie (USA)
1996
Sebastien LeBlanc (CAN) – Jocelyn Robichaud (CAN)
1995
Daniel Nestor (CAN)
Chris Woodruff (USA)
1995
Sebastien LeBlanc (CAN) – Brian MacPhie (USA)
1994
Shuzo Matsuoka (JPN)
Gianluca Pozzi (ITA)
1994
Brian MacPhie (USA) – Alex O’Brien (USA)
1993
Patrick Rafter (AUS)
Cristiano Caratti (ITA)
1993
Gilad Bloom (ISR) – Christian Saceanu (GER)
1992
Alex O’Brien (USA)
Byron Black (ZIM)
1992
Paul Annacone (USA) – Alex O’Brien (USA)
1991
Chuck Adams (USA)
Bryan Shelton (USA)
1991
Nduka Odizor (NGR) – Bryan Shelton (USA)
1990
Henrik Holm (SWE)
Brian Garrow (USA)
1990
Jeff Brown (USA) – Scott Melville (USA)
1989
Mark Kaplan (RSA)
Robbie Weiss (USA)
1989
Steve DeVries (USA) – Ted Scherman (USA)
1988
Brad Pearce (USA)
Tim Pawsat (USA)
1988
Jeff Klaparda (USA) – Peter Palandjian (USA)
TOURNAMENT NOTES U S TA P R O C I R C U I T With approximately 90 tournaments hosted annually throughout the country and prize money ranging from $10,000 to $100,000, the USTA Pro Circuit is the pathway to the US Open and tour-level competition for aspiring tennis players and a frequent battleground for established professionals. The USTA launched its Pro Circuit in 1979 to provide players with the opportunity to gain professional ranking points, and it has since grown to become the largest developmental tennis circuit in the world, offering nearly $3 million in prize money. Last year, more than 1,000 men and women from more than 70 countries competed in cities nationwide. Victoria Azarenka, Eugenie Bouchard, John Isner, Andy Murray, Kei Nishikori, Sam Querrey, Maria Sharapova and Caroline Wozniacki are among today’s top stars who began their careers on the USTA Pro Circuit. Amber Alva
More recently, the USTA Pro Circuit helped further the careers of two young Americans—Stefan Kozlov and Nicole Gibbs. Runner-up in 2014 at the junior championships of the Australian Open and Wimbledon, Kozlov reached the final of the Sacramento Challenger last October at age 16, becoming the youngest American to reach a Challenger final since Andre Agassi in 1986. That result vaulted Kozlov to No. 443 in the world, making him the youngest player in the ATP World Tour Top 500. He concluded 2014 by sweeping Stefan Kozlov the singles and doubles titles at the prestigious Orange Bowl Junior Tennis Championships, locking down a No. 3 junior world ranking. Gibbs, in her first full season as a professional after capturing back-to-back NCAA singles championships in 2012 and 2013, won the women’s USTA Pro Circuit US Open Wild Card Challenge in 2014. After claiming the title at the $50,000 USTA Pro Circuit event in Carson, Calif., Gibbs clinched the US Open wild card by advancing to the final of the $50,000 tournament in Lexington, Ky., her last USTA Pro Circuit event of the season. Gibbs went on to reach the third round at the US Open, scoring a pair of Top 50 victories along the way. Two weeks after the US Open, as a qualifier at Seoul, she reached her first WTA quarterfinal, which boosted her into the WTA Top 100 for the first time. Gibbs earned the second-most WTA ranking points of any American playing the USTA Pro Circuit in 2014.
P L AY E R D E V E L O P M E N T The USTA Player Development program identifies and develops the next generation of American champions by surrounding the top junior players and young pros with the resources, facilities and coaching they need to reach their maximum potential. The Player Development program is based at the USTA Training Center Headquarters in Boca Raton, Fla., and also utilizes Training Centers in Carson, Calif., and Flushing, N.Y., as well as a series of Certified Regional Training Centers located throughout the continental United States.
YOUTH TENNIS The USTA is making it easier and more fun for kids to get into the game—and stay in the game. Kids are learning to play faster than ever before through the USTA’s youth initiative, which is geared toward getting more kids to participate in tennis using modified equipment and courts tailored to a child’s size. For more information, visit YouthTennis.com.
NJTL Founded in 1969 by Arthur Ashe, along with Charlie Pasarell and Sheridan Snyder, the USTA/National Junior Tennis & Learning (NJTL) network is a nationwide group of more than 625 non-profit youth development organizations that provide free or low-cost tennis, education and life skills programming to more than 350,000 children each year. Celebrating its 45th anniversary this year, NJTL is one of the USTA’s largest community-based offerings.
U S O P E N N AT I O N A L P L AY O F F S The USTA launched the US Open National Playoffs in 2010, making the US Open “open” to anyone age 14+ and of all skill levels. Last year, more than 1,200 players competed in 13 Sectional Qualifying Tournaments nationwide for a 2014 US Open Qualifying Tournament wild card. A mixed doubles element also was held, with the winning team earning a main draw mixed doubles wild card. This year, players again competed in singles and mixed doubles, but also had the chance to play in the new men’s and women’s doubles competition to earn main draw doubles wild cards. The US Open National Playoffs Championships are Aug. 21-29. For more information and the complete schedule, visit www.usopen.org/NationalPlayoffs.
