as of January 30, 2014 CHALLENGER OF DALLAS DALLAS, TX FEBRUARY 1-8 TOURNAMENT INFORMATION Site: T Bar M Racquet Club Dallas, TX Websites: www.challengerofdallas.com procircuit.usta.com Facebook: Challenger of Dallas Twitter: @ChallengerDFW Qualifying Draw Begins: Saturday, February 1 Main Draw Begins: Monday, February 3 Main Draw: 32 Singles / 16 Doubles Surface: Hard / Indoor Prize Money: $100,000 Tournament Director: Darren Boyd, (972) 385-3613, dboyd@tbarmtennis.com Tournament Manager: Bob Raedisch, (972) 385-3612, bob@challengerofdallas.com Tournament Press Contact: Paula Evans, (972) 742-8110, paulasevans@att.net USTA Communications Contact: Amanda Korba, (914) 697-2219, korba@usta.com 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 -- DOUBLES: Prize Money (per team) Winner $6,200 Runner-up $3,600 Semifinalist $2,160 Quarterfinalist $1,280 Round of 16 $720 COMMUNITY EVENTS Saturday, Feb. 1: City-Wide Junior Clinic, 4-5:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 2: Sponsor Pro-Am, 1:45-4:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 3 Friday, Feb. 7: Adult Clinic, 9-10:30 a.m. Monday, Feb. 3 & Tuesday, Feb. 4: Adult Clinic, 6:30-8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 6: Pink Day, hosted by Tracy Austin, 11 a.m. Junior Deaf Clinic, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Sponsor Pro-Am, 6-8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 7: Estrada Hinojosa Latino Childrens Clinic, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Getty Images USTA PRO CIRCUIT RETURNS TO DALLAS The Challenger of Dallas is taking place for the 14th consecutive year and 16th year overall. (The event was not held in 2000.) This marks the event s third year offering $100,000 in prize money, up from $50,000 in 2011. It is the only USTA Pro Circuit Challenger hosted in Texas; the state also hosts three $15,000 Futures. This tournament will be streamed live on www. procircuit.usta.com. Notable players competing in the main draw include: Ryan Harrison, who is one of the most highly touted young Americans competing on the ATP World Tour. He earned a spot on the U.S. Olympic team for the 2012 Games in London and has been a member of the U.S. Davis Cup team. He also has enjoyed success on the ATP World Tour, reaching three semifinals in 2012 to climb to No. 43 in the world. Harrison lost in the first round of the 2014 Australian Open to No. 25 seed Gael Monfils. In 2013, Harrison reached the semifinals of the Emirates Airline US Open Series event in Atlanta, advanced to the quarterfinals of the Australian Open tune-up event in Sydney, Australia, and reached the second round of the Australian Open and the French Open (losing to John Isner in five sets in Paris). Getty Images Ryan Harrison earned a spot on the U.S. Olympic team for the 2012 Games in London and has been a member of the U.S. Davis Cup team. He has climbed as high as No. 43 in the ATP World Tour rankings. He also won the $50,000 USTA Pro Circuit Challenger in Savannah, Ga. Harrison has played in the US Open main draw each of the last four years; in 2010, he qualified and upset No. 15 seed Ivan Ljubicic in the opening round, and he also advanced to the second round in 2012. Harrison trains with the USTA Player Development program at the USTA Training Center Headquarters in Boca Raton, Fla. Tim Smyczek, who broke into the Top 100 in 2013 after advancing to the third round at the US Open, where he lost a tight five-setter to then-no. 43 Marcel Granollers. The US Open highlighted the strongest summer of Smyczek s career; he also advanced to the second round of the Emirates Airline US Open Series events in Washington, D.C., and Winston-Salem, N.C., and qualified for Atlanta. Also in 2013, the 5-foot-9 Smyczek advanced to the second Tim Smyczek broke into the Top 100 in 2013 after reaching the third round at the US Open. He rose to No. 73 by year s end after claiming a USTA Pro Circuit crown in Knoxville, Tenn.
round of the Australian Open, defeating 6-11 Ivo Karlovic in the opening round. In 2012, Smyczek reached the second round of the US Open and won two USTA Pro Circuit Challengers in Champaign, Ill., and Tallahassee, Fla. Smyczek regularly trains at Saddlebrook Resort in Tampa, Fla.; in fact, he lived with fellow American Mardy Fish for a year when training there. Defending Dallas singles champion Rhyne Williams, who qualified for the main draw of the 2014 Australian Open and took the first set off of 2009 US Open champion and No. 5 seed Juan Martin del Potro in the first round. Williams won three matches to qualify for the main draw of the 2012 US Open for his first Grand Slam appearance in the process becoming one of just 13 qualifying wild cards to reach the main draw in recorded US Open history. At the US Open, Williams faced Andy Roddick prior Roddick s retirement announcement. In addition, Williams earned a wild card into the 2013 Australian Open main draw by winning the USTA Australian Open Wild Card Playoffs, and he qualified for the 2013 French Open. Also last year, he reached the semifinals at the ATP clay-court event in Houston for his best ATP result. Williams turned pro in 2011 following his sophomore year at the University of Tennessee, where he reached the singles final at the 2011 NCAA Championships. Williams comes from a tennis family; his grandfather is Mike DePalmer Sr., a co-founder of the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy, and his mother, Michelle DePalmer-Williams, is a former pro and Orange Bowl 16s champion. Williams trains out of USTA Player Development s Training Center Headquarters in Boca Raton, Fla., and is coached by his cousin, Christopher Williams. Steve Johnson, who earned a wild card into the 2014 Australian Open main draw by winning the USTA Australian Open Wild Card Playoff in Norcross, Ga., against fellow up-and-coming Americans. In Australia, Johnson lost in the first round in five sets to France s Adrian Mannarino. Johnson turned pro in 2012 after completing an outstanding college tennis career at the University of Southern California, winning the 2011 and 2012 NCAA singles championships and leading the Trojans to team titles all four years he played for the school. Johnson had an impressive professional debut following his time at USC. He reached the third round of the 2012 US Open, becoming the first reigning NCAA champion to advance to the third round of the men s singles since Sargis Sargisian in 1995. And in 2013, Johnson reached his first ATP quarterfinal, in San Jose, Calif., and came through qualifying at both the Australian Open and the French Open, in addition to making his Wimbledon debut. Johnson trains with the USTA Player Development program at the USTA Training Center West in Carson, Calif. Denis Kudla, who broke into the Top 100 for the first time in his career in 2013 after advancing to the second round of the US Open and Wimbledon and competing in a number of Emirates Airline US Open Series events. He qualified for the 2013 French Open and reached the quarterfinals of the Wimbledon warm-up event at Queens Club his best ATP result. Also in 2013, Kudla won the $50,000 Challenger in Tallahassee, Fla., for his fifth USTA Pro Circuit singles title and third Challenger title. Thus far in 2014, he earned direct entry into the Australian Open, falling in the first round. In 2012, Kudla competed in the US Open as a wild card and finished the season as the top ATP points earner among Americans and the leader in prize money on the USTA Pro Circuit. Kudla was formerly ranked No. 3 in the world junior rankings and reached the boys singles final at the 2010 US Open, where he lost to Jack Sock in three sets. Kudla has served as a Davis Cup practice partner. He was born in the Ukraine and came to the U.S. with his parents on his first birthday. Kudla trains with the USTA Player Development program at the USTA Training Center Headquarters in Boca Raton, Fla. Defending doubles champion Alex Kuznetsov, the 2004 junior French Open runner-up (to Gael Monfils), who earned a main-draw wild card into the 2013 French Open by winning the Har-Tru USTA Pro Circuit Wild Card Challenge via his results on the USTA Pro Circuit including a tournament title as a qualifier at the Challenger in Sarasota, Fla. Following the French Open, Kuznetsov qualified for Wimbledon. Also in 2013, he won the $50,000 USTA Pro Circuit Challenger in Binghamton, N.Y., and qualified for and advanced to the second round of the Emirates Airline US Open Series event in Washington, D.C., where he lost to John Isner. Those results drove Kuznetsov s ranking up to a career-high No. 120 in the world. In 2012, he qualified for the Australian Open to make his first appearance in a Grand Slam tournament main draw since 2007; he lost to Rafael Nadal in the first round. A native of Kiev, Ukraine, where his grandfather was a handball champion, Kuznetsov suffered a severe leg injury in a 2005 car accident and needed a titanium rod and screw placed in his right leg. He came back to play in his first US Open main draw in 2006. Tennys Sandgren, whose name is pronounced like the sport and who turned pro following his sophomore season at the University of Tennessee, after reaching the semifinals of the 2011 NCAA tournament. He nearly qualified for the main draw at the 2014 Australian Open, falling to Steve Johnson in five sets in the final of the USTA Australian Open Wild Card Playoff in Norcross, Ga. Sandgren won three USTA Pro Circuit Futures titles (in four finals) in 2012 to climb nearly 300 spots in the ATP rankings. In 2013, he graduated to Challengers and won the year-end $50,000 USTA Pro Circuit event in Champaign, Ill., to break into the Top 200 for the first time in his career. Also last year, he captured the doubles title at the $50,000 USTA Pro Circuit Challenger in Tallahassee, Fla., with Austin Krajicek, and he served as a Davis Cup practice partner for the U.S. team as it prepared to face Serbia in Boise, Idaho. Sandgren s brother, Davey, was a two-time All-American for Tennessee, lettering from 2007 to 2010. Michael Russell, who is the men s all-time leader in USTA Pro Circuit singles titles with 24, winning his last title at the end of 2013 at the $75,000 Challenger in Charlottesville, Va. With his victory in Charlottesville, Russell became the oldest USTA Pro Circuit singles champion, at 35 years, 6 months and 2 days. Russell upset then-no. 9 Mardy Fish en route to the semifinals of the ATP World Tour event in Houston in April 2012 and, in summer 2013, he reached the semifinals of the ATP grass-court event in Newport, R.I. his careerbest ATP results. He also reached the quarterfinals of the ATP event in Memphis in 2013 as a qualifier and competed in all four Grand Slam events. In 2001, Russell achieved his best Grand Slam tournament result by reaching the fourth round of the French Open, where he pushed eventual champion Gustavo Kuerten to five sets. 2006 Dallas doubles champion Bobby Reynolds, a ATP World Tour veteran who holds the record for the most career singles and doubles titles on the USTA Pro Circuit, capturing his 31st USTA Pro Circuit title by winning the doubles at the $50,000 Challenger in Napa, Calif., in September 2013. Reynolds ascended to a career-best No. 63 in 2009 before suffering a wrist injury that sidelined him for seven months. He has reached the second round or better at all four Grand Slam events in his career. In 2008, Reynolds posted his best Grand Slam tournament result by reaching the third round at Wimbledon. Reynolds qualified for Wimbledon and won his first round match in 2013 for his first Grand Slam singles win since 2008. He won his only ATP doubles title in 2006 in Indianapolis with Andy Roddick. Reynolds played at Vanderbilt University for three seasons, 2000-03, under coach and former ATP doubles star Ken Flach, before turning pro after his junior year. He finished No. 1 in the ITA collegiate rankings in 2003, the same year he led Vanderbilt to NCAA final.
Three-time Dallas doubles champion Rajeev Ram, who has established himself as a steady presence in the Top 50 of the world doubles rankings, reaching the second round or better at all four Grand Slam events in doubles, including the quarterfinals at the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon, and peaking at No. 33 in the world in doubles in 2010. In 2012, Ram reached the doubles quarterfinals at the French Open and Australian Open, and he reached the round of 16 in doubles at the US Open in 2013 with Brian Baker. Overall, Ram has won seven ATP World Tour doubles crowns. In 2009, he won his first ATP singles crown in Newport, R.I., where he also captured the doubles title. In 2012, he reached the singles semifinals of the Emirates Airline US Open Series event in Los Angeles, losing to Sam Querrey, two weeks after advancing to the semis in Newport. An Indiana state high school champion, Ram played collegiately at the University of Illinois then coached by current Australian Open Tournament Director Craig Tiley for one semester in 2003 and helped the Illini win the school s first NCAA team title and record its first undefeated season. Notable players competing in qualifying include: 2013 singles runner-up Robby Ginepri, who is the only active U.S. man to have advanced to a Grand Slam semifinal (2005 US Open, where he lost to Andre Agassi in five sets). Ginepri was one of the top Americans in the world in the mid-2000s, winning three ATP singles titles. IN his career, Ginepri has reached the fourth round or better at all four Slams and peaked at No. 15 in 2006. He has also competed for the U.S. in Davis Cup (2004) and the Olympics (2008). Ginepri is on the comeback trail following a broken elbow suffered in late 2010, when he fell off his bicycle trying to avoid a squirrel; the injury kept him sidelined through the middle of 2011. He won the $10,000 USTA Pro Circuit Futures in Sunrise, Fla., in January 2013 for his last career singles title. He also qualified and reached the quarterfinals of the U.S. Clay Court Championship in Houston in April 2013. Ginsepri owns the Olde Towne Athletic Club in Marietta, Ga., with his longtime coach, Jerry Baskin. Chase Buchanan, who in 2013 reached the semifinals at three USTA Pro Circuit Futures events. He also spent August and September 2013 competing overseas and won three ITF Circuit events, in Ecuador and Bolivia. As a college player for Ohio State University, Buchanan won the NCAA doubles championship in 2012 with Blaz Rola, earning a wild card into the main draw of the men s doubles event at the US Open that year. Buchanan also reached the final of the 2009 junior US Open and earned a wild card into the main draw of the US Open men s singles event that year as the USTA Boys 18s champion, losing in the opening round to then-no. 7 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Buchanan has won three USTA Pro Circuit singles titles in his career. Former University of Michigan standout Jason Jung, who won his second professional singles title last summer at the $10,000 Futures in Edwardsville, Ill. This year, he reached back-to-back doubles finals at the $10,000 Futures in Sunrise, Fla., and Weston, Fla., winning the title in Sunrise. In September 2013, Jung reached the singles final at an ITF event in Canada and won a doubles title at another event in Canada. Jung spent most of last spring and fall competing overseas in ITF-level events in Korea and China, where he won one doubles title and reached one singles final and two singles semifinals. At Michigan, Jung received All-Big Ten honors in 2010 and 2011 and played in the NCAA championships twice. He ranks fourth all-time in career doubles wins for the Wolverines, with 88 from 2008 to 2011. Former University of Virginia standout Michael Shabaz, who reached the singles semifinals at the 2011 NCAA Championships, losing to Steve Johnson, and won the 2010 NCAA doubles title with Drew Courtney. Shabaz won his first USTA Pro Circuit singles title at the $10,000 Futures in Pittsburgh in July 2013 and, two weeks later, won the title at the $10,000 Futures in Godfrey, Ill. As a junior player, he won the Wimbledon doubles title in 2005 (with Jesse Levine). Dennis Novikov, who 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 the last 15 years to advance to the second round in singles. Novikov completed his sophomore year at UCLA in spring 2013 and turned pro that summer. He won his first career USTA Pro Circuit title in June 2013 at the $10,000 Futures in Amelia Island, Fla. Born in Moscow, Novikov moved with his family to the U.S. at 1 year old and eventually chose tennis over hockey, swimming and gymnastics. Many current and past ATP World Tour standouts have found success in Dallas. 2001 singles champion Dmitry Tursunov broke into the Top 20 in 2006 and has won seven tour-level singles titles and five tour-level doubles crowns. Tursunov also was a valuable member of the 2006 Russian Davis Cup championship team, posting victories in all four of Russia s matches that season. 2003 singles runner-up and doubles champion Justin Gimelstob peaked at No. 18 in the world in doubles in 2000 after winning five ATP World Tour doubles titles the year prior. In his career, Gimelstob captured 13 doubles titles and won the 2006 singles title at the ATP World Tour event in Newport, R.I. He also reached the doubles semifinals of the 2001 Australian Open with Scott Humphries his partner for his 2003 title here as well as the doubles quarterfinals at four additional Grand Slam events. Jamie Murray and Eric Butorac, who teamed to win the 2007 Dallas doubles title, went on to capture three ATP World Tour doubles events together that year. Jamie, the older brother of 2012 US Open champion Andy Murray, holds 10 ATP World Tour doubles titles and Butorac, runner-up in men s doubles at this year s Australian Open, holds 14. 1998 singles champion Daniel Nestor is one of the most accomplished doubles players in men s tennis. He has won 83 career ATP World Tour doubles titles, including eight Grand Slam events.
DALLAS PAST WINNERS Singles Doubles Year Winner Runner-Up Year Winner 2013 Rhyne Williams (USA) Robby Ginepri (USA) 2013 Alex Kuznetsov (USA) Mischa Zverev (GER) 2012 Jesse Levine (USA) Steve Darcis (BEL) 2012 Chris Eaton (GBR) Dominic Inglot (GBR) 2011 Alex Bogomolov Jr. (USA) Rainer Schuettler (GER) 2011 Scott Lipsky (USA) Rajeev Ram (USA) 2010 Ryan Sweeting (USA) Carsten Ball (CAN) 2010 Scott Lipsky (USA) David Martin (USA) 2009 Ryan Sweeting (USA) Brendan Evans (USA) 2009 Prakash Amritraj (IND) Rajeev Ram (USA) 2008 Amer Delic (USA) Stephane Bohli (SUI) 2008 Benedikt Dorsch (GER) Bjorn Phau (GER) 2007 Robert Kendrick (USA) Benedikt Dorsch (GER) 2007 Eric Butorac (USA) Jamie Murray (GBR) 2006 Kevin Kim (USA) Robert Kendrick (USA) 2006 Rajeev Ram (USA) Bobby Reynolds (USA) 2005 Michael Ryderstedt (SWE) Andre Sa (BRA) 2005 Rik De Voest (RSA) Giovanni Lapentti (ECU) 2004 Sebastien De Chaunac (FRA) Amer Delic (USA) 2004 Jordan Kerr (AUS) Todd Perry (AUS) 2003 Simon Greul (GER) Justin Gimelstob (USA) 2003 Justin Gimelstob (USA) Scott Humphries (USA) 2002 Jeff Morrison (USA) Martin Verkerk (NED) 2002 Giorgio Galimberti (ITA) Frederic Niemeyer (CAN) 2001 Dmitry Tursunov (RUS) Justin Bower (RSA) 2001 Gavin Sontag (USA) Jerry Turek (CAN) 2000 Tournament not held 2000 Tournament not held 1999 Andre Sa (BRA) Jimy Szymanski (VEN) 1999 Paul Kilderry (AUS) Grant Silcock (AUS) 1998 Daniel Nestor (CAN) Cristiano Caratti (ITA) 1998 Jared Palmer (USA) Jonathan Stark (USA)
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. Celebrating its 35th anniversary in 2014, the USTA Pro Circuit provides players with the opportunity to gain professional ranking points, and it has 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. Mardy Fish, Maria Sharapova, John Isner, Caroline Wozniacki, Sam Querrey, Victoria Azarenka and Andy Murray are among today s top stars who began their careers on the USTA Pro Circuit. More recently, the USTA Pro Circuit helped launch the careers of two young Americans Bradley Klahn and Shelby Rogers. Former Stanford standout and 2010 NCAA champion Klahn was the 2013 USTA Pro Circuit Prize Money Leader with $50,606 in earnings, reaching five USTA Pro Circuit singles finals and winning two singles titles: the $15,000 Futures in Costa Mesa, Calif., in March, and the $100,000 Challenger in Aptos, Calif., in August. The two singles titles were the first USTA Pro Circuit singles crowns of his career. Klahn also earned a USTA wild card into the 2013 US Open through a wild card challenge incorporating USTA Pro Circuit events. Klahn finished 2013 ranked in the Top 100 for the first time in his career after starting the year ranked outside the Top 250. Rogers was the 2013 women s USTA Pro Circuit Prize Money Leader with $36,308 in earnings, winning three singles Joyce Tartar-Rideout Bradley Klahn titles with prize money of $50,000 or more ($50,000 events in Charlottesville, Va., and Lexington, Ky., and the $75,000 event in Albuquerque, N.M.). Rogers also earned a USTA wild card into both the French Open and the US Open by winning wild card challenges for the two Grand Slam tournaments utilizing a series of USTA Pro Circuit events. In her debut at the 2013 French Open, Rogers won her first round match. She peaked at No. 116 in the world in October 2013, rising more than 100 spots throughout the year. Both Klahn and Rogers train with the USTA Player Development program. 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 44th 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 1,000 players competed in 13 Sectional Qualifying Tournaments nationwide for a 2013 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. Mayo Hibi, a 17-year-old Japanese player living in Irvine, Calif., won the 2013 US Open National Playoffs women s title and USTA Pro Circuit regular Jeff Dadamo, 24, of Tampa, Fla., won the men s wild card. Yasmin Schnack and Eric Roberson won the mixed doubles tournament. The schedule for this year s US Open National Playoffs will be released in early 2014.