TOURNAMENT NOTES KENTUCKY BANK TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS LEXINGTON, KY JULY 25-AUGUST 2 USTA PRO CIRCUIT RETURNS TO LEXINGTON TOURNAMENT INFORMATION

Transcription

1 as of July 23, 2015 KENTUCKY BANK TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS LEXINGTON, KY JULY 25-AUGUST 2 TOURNAMENT INFORMATION Site: Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex at the University of Kentucky Lexington, Ky. Websites: procircuit.usta.com Facebook: Lexington Challenger Tennis Championships Qualifying Draw Begins: Saturday, July 25 Main Draw Begins: Monday, July 27 Main Draw: 32 Singles / 16 Doubles Surface: Hard / Outdoor Prize Money: $50,000 Tournament Director: Brooks Lundy, (859) , lblundy1@gmail.com Tournament Press Contact: Chris Ware, (205) chris.madison.ware@gmail.com USTA Communications Contact: Amanda Korba, (914) , korba@usta.com PRIZE MONEY / POINTS SINGLES: Prize Money Ranking Points Winner $7, Runner-Up $4, Semifinalist $2, Quarterfinalist $1, Round 16 $860 7 Round 32 $520 DOUBLES: Prize Money (per team) Winner $3,100 Runner-Up $1,800 Semifinalist $1,080 Quarterfinalist $640 Round 16 $360 COMMUNITY EVENTS Sunday, July 26 Pro-Am, 5:30 p.m. Monday, July 27 Pro-Am Finals, 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 28 Pure Barre/Sweat Exercise, 8:00 a.m.; Kids Day, 10:00 a.m.-noon; Women s Lunch, noon; Ladies Round Robin, 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 29 Bluegrass Tennis Association Fun Tennis Blast, 5:00 p.m.; Big Blue Night Exhibition, 7:00 p.m. Thursday, July 30 Pure Barre/Sweat Exercise, 8:00 a.m.; Bluegrass Tennis Association Fun Tennis Blast, 5:00 p.m. Friday, July 31 Men s Round Robin, 5:30 p.m. Sunday, August 2 UK Hall of Fame Induction, 12:30 p.m. USTA USTA PRO CIRCUIT RETURNS TO LEXINGTON The Kentucky Bank Tennis Championships return to Lexington as a men s event for the 18th consecutive year. Lexington is also holding a $50,000 women s Challenger in conjunction with this event in Lexington. It is the only men s USTA Pro Circuit event taking place in Kentucky. It is also the sixth $50,000 USTA Pro Circuit men s event of the 2015 season. Lexington is also the second of three consecutive men s hard-court tournaments (joining a $50,000 Challenger in Binghamton, N.Y., and a $100,000 Challenger in Aptos, Calif.) 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. The American man and American woman who earn the most ATP and WTA ranking points at two of the three selected USTA Pro USTA Bjorn Fratangelo became the first American since John McEnroe in 1977 to win the French Open boys singles title in He peaked at a career-high No. 122 in the world this June. Circuit hard-court events will receive USTA 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 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, who in 2011 became the first American since John McEnroe in 1977 to win the French Open boys singles title. He peaked at a career-high No. 122 in Dennis Novikov comes to Lexington after representing the U.S. in the Pan American Games in Toronto, where he won the bronze medal in men s singles.

2 the world this June after reaching a final and semifinal of ITF-level Challengers in Italy this spring, as well as the quarterfinals or better at two $50,000 USTA Pro Circuit Challengers. Fratangelo has won nine USTA Pro Circuit and ITF-level 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. Dennis Novikov, who comes to Lexington after representing the U.S. in the Pan American Games in Toronto, 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. 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. Notable players competing in qualifying include: 2007 Lexington doubles champion Ryan Sweeting, who has played in just six 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. 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 all- American Wimbledon boys final since 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 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., this 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 in qualifying. He holds two USTA Pro Circuit doubles titles Lexington singles runner-up 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 He has played in all four Grand Slam events in his career, reaching the second round of the Australian Open in 2007.

3 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. 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. Longtime touring professional Jesse Witten, who peaked at No. 163 in the world in early 2010 and has played on the USTA Pro Circuit periodically over the past few years, winning his first title in four years at the $10,000 USTA Pro Circuit Futures in Indian Harbour Beach, Fla., in June He posted the best Grand Slam result of his career at the 2009 US Open, qualifying and knocking off two Top 100 players before falling to Novak Djokovic in four sets in the third round. Witten is a former University of Kentucky standout, reaching the NCAA singles final in In 2014, he won the mixed doubles title (with his sister, Sarah, a former Kentucky standout) at the US Open National Playoffs Florida Sectional Qualifying Tournament and will be competing in the US Open National Playoffs this year in men s singles and men s doubles. 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-level 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-level event in Nigeria. 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. Many current ATP World Tour players have found success in Lexington singles champion John Isner cracked the world s Top 10 in early 2012 and has been a key player for the U.S. Davis Cup team. He also won the longest match in tennis history at Wimbledon in 2010, going 11 hours over three days to defeat Nicolas Mahut, 70-68, in the fifth set. Isner, currently ranked No. 18 in the world, has won nine ATP World Tour singles titles and three doubles titles. Lleyton Hewitt, the 1998 doubles champion, went on to become the No. 1 player in the world in 2001 after winning the US Open. Hewitt also captured the Wimbledon title in 2002 and has won a total of 30 ATP World Tour career singles titles, most recently the grass-court Hall of Fame Tennis Championships in Newport, R.I., last year.

4 LEXINGTON PAST WINNERS Singles Doubles Year Winner Runner-Up Year Winner 2014 James Duckworth (AUS) James Ward (GBR) 2014 Peter Polansky (CAN) Adil Shamasdin (CAN) 2013 James Ward (GBR) James Duckworth (AUS) 2013 Frank Dancevic (CAN) Peter Polansky (CAN) 2012 Denis Kudla (USA) Erik Chvojka (CAN) 2012 Austin Krajicek (USA) John Peers (AUS) 2011 Wayne Odesnik (USA) James Ward (GBR) 2011 Jordan Kerr (AUS) David Martin (USA) 2010 Carsten Ball (AUS) Jesse Levine (USA) 2010 Raven Klaasen (RSA) Izak Van Der Merwe (RSA) 2009 Harel Levy (ISR) Alex Kuznetsov (USA) 2009 Kevin Anderson (RSA) Ryler DeHeart (USA) 2008 Somdev Devvarman (IND) Robert Kendrick (USA) 2008 Alessandro Da Col (ITA) Andrea Stoppini (ITA) 2007 John Isner (USA) Brian Wilson (USA) 2007 Brendan Evans (USA) Ryan Sweeting (USA) 2006 Hyun-Taik Lee (KOR) Amer Delic (USA) 2006 Sanchai Ratiwatana (THA) Sonchat Ratiwatana (THA) 2005 Dudi Sela (ISR) Bobby Reynolds (USA) 2005 Scoville Jenkins (USA) Bobby Reynolds (USA) 2004 Matias Boeker (USA) Jesse Witten (USA) 2004 Matias Boeker (USA) Amer Delic (USA) 2003 Frank Dancevic (CAN) Petr Kralert (CZE) 2003 Jonathan Erlich (ISR) Takao Suzuki (JPN) 2002 Scott Draper (AUS) Paul Goldstein (USA) 2002 Jack Brasington (USA) Glenn Weiner (USA) 2001 Paul Goldstein (USA) Jack Brasington (USA) 2001 John-Laffnie de Jager (RSA) Robbie Koenig (RSA) 2000 Takao Suzuki (JPN) Justin Gimelstob (USA) 2000 Lorenzo Manta (SUI) Laurence Tieleman (ITA) 1999 Harel Levy (ISR) Kevin Kim (USA) 1999 Michael Sell (USA) Gabriel Trifu (ROU) 1998 Paul Goldstein (USA) Hyung-Taik Lee (KOR) 1998 Ben Ellwood (AUS) Lleyton Hewitt (AUS)

5 USTA PRO CIRCUIT 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. 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 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 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 Amber Alva PLAYER DEVELOPMENT 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. US OPEN NATIONAL PLAYOFFS 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 can again compete in singles and mixed doubles, but also will have the chance to play in the new men s and women s doubles competition to earn main draw doubles wild cards. Registration for all divisions opens on March 15. For more information and the complete schedule, visit