Tournament Notes

TOURNAMENT NOTES as of April 13, 2016 HARDEE’S PRO CLASSIC DOTHAN, AL • APRIL 17-24 USTA PRO CIRCUIT RETURNS TO DOTHAN, KICKS OFF WOMEN’S USTA PRO CIRCUIT ROLAND GARROS WILD CARD CHALLENGE The Hardee’s Pro Classic will take place in Dothan for the 16th consecutive year. It is one of two USTA Pro Circuit events held in Alabama, joining a $25,000 women’s event TOURNAMENT Ryan USTA/Steven INFORMATION in Pelham, also in April. In conjunction with USTA Player Development, the USTA Site: Westgate Tennis Center – Dothan, Ala. Pro Circuit continues to emphasize the importance of increased training for younger Websites: www.dothanprotennis.org players on clay. procircuit.usta.com Qualifying Draw Begins: Sunday, April 17 Dothan is also one of three consecutive women’s clay-court tournaments (joining Main Draw Begins: Tuesday, April 19 the $50,000 event in Charlottesville, Va., Main Draw: 32 Singles / 16 Doubles and the $75,000 event in Indian Harbour Beach, Fla.) that are part of the USTA Pro Surface: Clay / Outdoor Circuit Roland Garros Wild Card Challenge, Prize Money: $50,000 which will award a men’s and women’s wild card into the 2016 French Open. Along with Tournament Director: Top seed and former Top 100 player Shelby these three women’s tournaments, the men’s Rogers advanced to the third round at the Kim Meeker, (334) 615-3700 tournaments that are part of the challenge 2015 US Open as a qualifier. [email protected] include the 2016 Joey Gratton Sarasota Open Tournament Press Contact: in Sarasota, Fla., held the week of April 11; Cricket Lee, (334) 797-7208 the St. Joseph’s/Candler Savannah Challenger to compete in the main draws of the French in Savannah, Ga., held the week of April 18; [email protected] Open, which will be held Sunday, May 22, and the USTA Tallahassee Tennis Challenger to Sunday, June 5. Players who do not receive USTA Communications Contact: in Tallahassee, Fla., held the week of April 25. direct entry into the French Open are eligible Amanda Korba, (914) 697-2219 for the wild cards. The USTA and the French [email protected] The American man and American woman Tennis Federation have a reciprocal agreement who earn the most ATP and WTA ranking PRIZE MONEY / POINTS in which wild cards into the 2016 French points at two of the three USTA Pro Circuit Open and 2016 US Open are exchanged. SINGLES: Prize Money Ranking Points clay-court events will receive USTA wild cards Winner $7,600 80 This tournament will be streamed live on Runner-up $4,053 48 www.procircuit.usta.com. To follow the Semifinalist $2,216 29 tournament, download the USTA Pro Circuit’s Quarterfinalist $1,267 15 Hartis Tim new phone app for smartphones and tablets Round of 16 $760 8 by searching “procircuit” in the Apple and Round of 32 $444 1 Google Play stores. DOUBLES: Prize Money (per team) Winner $2,786 Notable players competing in Dothan include: Runner-up $1,393 Semifinalist $696 Top seed and former USTA Pro Circuit Roland Quarterfinalist $380 Garros Wild Card Challenge winner Shelby Round of 16 $254 Rogers, who qualified for the 2015 US Open and advanced to the third round—her career- best Grand Slam result. Rogers peaked at No. 70 in the world in September 2014 CiCi Bellis made international headlines at the 2014 US Open when, as a 15-year-old, she upset No. 12 seed and reigning Australian Open finalist Dominika Cibulkova in the first round. *Player field subject to change TOURNAMENT NOTES (she is currently No. 108) after reaching her first WTA singles final in 2015 Dothan finalistKaterina Stewart, who made her Australian Open Bad Gastein, Austria. That result came on the heels of reaching the qualifying debut in January and who in March, captured back-to-back semifinals in Quebec City and the quarterfinals at the Emirates Airline USTA Pro Circuit titles at $10,000 events in Weston, Fla., and US Open Series event in Montreal, where she upset then-Top 10 Orlando, Fla., for her seventh and eighth career USTA Pro Circuit player Eugenie Bouchard. Rogers competed in her first Australian singles titles. Stewart also won the doubles title in Weston. Stewart Open and Wimbledon main draws in 2015, in addition to competing also had a strong season on the USTA Pro Circuit in 2015; she in the French Open for the third time. She also won the doubles title captured three singles titles and went 13-2 in the spring in a string at the $50,000 grass-court event in Eastbourne, Great Britain, in June of $50,000 clay-court events, winning in Indian Harbour Beach, Fla., 2015 with CoCo Vandeweghe. This year, Rogers reached her second and reaching the finals here and in Charlottesville, Va. Stewart peaked WTA final at the Rio Open in February and advanced to the semifinals at a career-high No. 158 in the world in July of last year. In 2014, of the $100,000 USTA Pro Circuit event in Midland, Mich., as well she won the USTA Girls’ 18s National Clay Court Championships in as the $25,000 event in Wesley Chapel, Fla. In 2013, Rogers earned Memphis, Tenn. That capped a 34-match winning streak in junior and a wild card into the French Open by winning the that year’s wild card pro matches, during which she won three USTA Pro Circuit $10,000 challenge—she reached the second round at Roland Garros—and clay-court events (Orlando, Fla.; Bethany Beach, Del.; and Charlotte, secured a wild card into the 2013 US Open by winning the USTA N.C.). Stewart was awarded a wild card into qualifying at the 2014 Pro Circuit’s US Open Wild Card Challenge. In her career, Rogers has US Open and won her first-round qualifying match over Yuliya won four USTA Pro Circuit singles titles and one doubles title. As a Beygelizimer, a former Top 100 player. Stewart also played in the junior player, she won the USTA Girls’ 18s National Championships to doubles main draw at the 2014 US Open with Louisa Chirico, falling earn a wild card into the main draw of the 2010 US Open for her first in the first round. An accomplished player on all surfaces, Stewart appearance in a Grand Slam (in either the main draw or juniors) also was the USTA Girls’ 16s national hard court champion in 2013. Her mother, Marina, was an Argentine WTA pro. She is coached by CiCi Bellis, who won her second career USTA Pro Circuit doubles title her father, Cesar. earlier this year at the $100,000 event in Midland, Mich. Bellis made international headlines at the 2014 US Open with her first-round Anna Tatishvili, the former Top 50 player who has competed in all upset of No. 12 seed and reigning Australian Open finalist Dominika four Grand Slam events and reached the second round or better at all Cibulkova. With the victory, Bellis, then 15, became the youngest but the French Open. Most recently, Tatishvili competed in the main female player to win a main-draw match at the US Open since Anna draw of the 2016 Australian Open and qualified for the WTA Premier Kournikova in 1996. She earned a wild card into the US Open main event in Miami, and in 2015 she advanced to the second round at the draw as the USTA Girls’ 18s national champion; she was the youngest Australian Open and the US Open. Her best Grand Slam result came USTA Girls’ 18s national champion since Lindsay Davenport in 1991. at the 2012 US Open, where she reached the fourth round before Following the 2014 US Open, Bellis won the first USTA Pro Circuit falling to top seed Victoria Azarenka. Overall, Tatishvili has won eight singles titles of her career at $25,000 events in Rock Hill, S.C., and USTA Pro Circuit singles titles and three ITF Circuit singles titles in Florence, S.C. In 2015, Bellis reached the third round of the WTA her career, as well eight USTA Pro Circuit and ITF-level doubles titles. event in Miami as a wild card and peaked at No. 152 in the world She also holds one career WTA doubles title, captured in 2014 in in July. In the junior ranks, Bellis clinched the ITF’s year-end No. 1 Linz, Austria. As a junior player, Tatishvili climbed as high as No. 19 world ranking in December 2014, becoming the second American girl in the ITF World Junior Rankings and reached the doubles semifinals in three years to earn the ITF’s year-end top junior ranking for players at the 2006 junior Australian Open with Caroline Wozniacki. Tatishvili ages 18 and under (joining Taylor Townsend, 2012). In addition, she formerly represented the country of Georgia, but became a U.S. led the U.S. to the 2014 Junior Fed Cup title in Mexico, helping the citizen in April 2014. She is coached by her father, Dimitri. American squad win the 16-and-under world team title for the third time in seven years (2008, 2012, 2014). Sachia Vickery, who peaked at a career-high No. 108 in the world in July 2015 after qualifying for Wimbledon. She also received a wild Jessica Pegula, who played in just one tournament in 2014 after card into the 2015 US Open. Also last year, Vickery advanced to the having knee surgery, but is on the comeback trail after qualifying for quarterfinals of the WTA’s Wimbledon tune-up event in Nottingham, the 2015 US Open and winning her first-round match in her first Great Britain, and won the first two career USTA Pro Circuit singles Grand Slam tournament main draw appearance.

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