TOURNAMENT NOTES

as of January 21, 2016

THE CITY OF SUNRISE PRO CLASSIC SUNRISE, FL • JANUARY 24-31

USTA PRO CIRCUIT WOMEN’S TENNIS RETURNS TO SUNRISE TOURNAMENT INFORMATION The City of Sunrise Pro Tennis Classic returns to Sunrise as a women’s event for the Site: Sunrise Tennis Club second consecutive year. The city has also

Sunrise, Fla. hosted a series of men’s events since 2012 Hartis Tim in January and February. This is the third Websites: www.sunrisetennisacademy.com USTA Pro Circuit women’s event of 2016 procircuit.usta.com and the last of three consecutive $25,000 Facebook: Sunrise Tennis Academy clay-court women’s events to kick off the season, all of which will be held in Florida. In Qualifying Draw Begins: Sunday, Jan. 24 conjunction with USTA Player Development, Main Draw Begins: Tuesday, Jan. 26 the USTA Pro Circuit continues to emphasize the importance of increased training on clay Main Draw: 32 Singles / 16 Doubles for younger players. Surface: Clay / Outdoor To follow the tournament, download the USTA Prize Money: $25,000 Pro Circuit’s new phone app for smartphones Tournament Director: and tablets by searching “procircuit” in the Justin Dimaio, (954) 572-2286 Apple and Google Play stores. [email protected] Notable players competing in Sunrise include: Tournament Press Contact: Justin Dimaio, (954) 572-2286 Sixteen-year-old CiCi Bellis, who made [email protected] international headlines at the 2014 US Teenager CiCi Bellis made international Open with her first-round upset of No. 12 USTA Communications Contact: headlines at the 2014 US Open with her seed and reigning finalist first-round upset of No. 12 seed Dominika Amanda Korba, (914) 697-2219 Dominika Cibulkova. With the victory, Bellis, Cibulkova. [email protected] then 15, became the youngest female player to win a main-draw match at the US Open PRIZE MONEY / POINTS since in 1996. She earned Following the 2014 US Open, Bellis won the a into the US Open main draw as first USTA Pro Circuit singles titles of her SINGLES: Prize Money Ranking Points the USTA Girls’ 18s national champion; she career at $25,000 events in Rock Hill, S.C., Winner $3,919 50 was the youngest USTA Girls’ 18s national and Florence, S.C. She added a third singles Runner-Up $2,091 30 champion since in 1991. title last year at the $25,000 event in Semifinalist $1,144 18 Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. Also in 2015, Bellis Quarterfinalist $654 9 reached the third round of the WTA event Round 16 $392 5 in Miami as a wild card before losing to Round 32 $228 1 . She peaked at No. 152 in

DOUBLES: Prize Money (per team) Peter Staples the world in July 2015. In the junior ranks, Winner $1,437 she clinched the ITF’s year-end No. 1 world Runner-Up $719 ranking in December 2014, becoming the Semifinalist $359 second American girl in the last three years Quarterfinalist $196 to earn the ITF’s year-end top junior ranking Round 16 $131 for players ages 18 and under (joining , 2012). Also in December, Bellis reached the singles semifinals and won the doubles title at the Metropolia International Championships in Plantation,

Defending doubles champion made her Australian Open qualifying debut this month and last year won three singles titles on the USTA Pro Circuit.

*Player field subject to change TOURNAMENT NOTES

Fla. In addition, she led the U.S. to the 2014 Junior Fed Cup title , 17, who made her main-draw debut at the in Mexico, helping the American squad win the 16-and-under world 2015 US Open and also reached the 2015 US Open junior singles team title for the third time in seven years (2008, 2012, 2014). final. Kenin earned a wild-card berth into the US Open women’s singles draw by virtue of her USTA Girls’ 18s national title. Kenin, Sunrise defending doubles champion Katerina Stewart, who made who goes by “Sonya,” is the No. 7-ranked junior in the world and her Australian Open qualifying debut this month. Stewart had a represented the U.S. at the 2014 Youth Olympic Games in China. strong season on the USTA Pro Circuit in 2015, winning three She reached her first career USTA Pro Circuit final last year at the singles titles and going 13-2 in the spring in a string of $50,000 $10,000 event in Gainesville, Fla., where she also reached the clay-court events, where she won in Indian Harbour Beach, Fla., and doubles final. reached the final in Charlottesville, Va., and Savannah, Ga. Stewart peaked at a career-high No. 158 in the world in July. In 2014, she Notable players competing in qualifying include: won the USTA Girls’ 18s National Clay Court Championships in Memphis. That capped a 34-match winning streak in junior and pro , who peaked at No. 27 in the world in 2013 before matches, during which she won three USTA Pro Circuit $10,000 suffering from a series of wrist injuries. In 2013, Robson had her clay-court events (Orlando, Fla.; Bethany Beach, Del.; and Charlotte, first Top 50 season, where she advanced to the fourth round of N.C.). Stewart was awarded a wild card into qualifying at the 2014 Wimbledon and the third round of the US Open and Australian US Open and won her first-round qualifying match over Yuliya Open. She reached her first WTA final in 2012 in Guangzhou and Beygelizimer, a former Top 100 player. Stewart also played in the earned the silver medal in mixed doubles at the 2012 Olympics in doubles main draw at the 2014 US Open with , falling London with Andy Murray. in the first round. An accomplished player on all surfaces, Stewart also was the USTA Girls’ 16s national hard court champion in 2013. , who completed her outstanding college career at the Her mother, Marina, was an Argentine WTA pro. She is coached by University of Florida in 2013 by being named the National College her father, Cesar. Player of the Year. Embree went 26-3 in her final year for the Gators at the No. 1 singles spot, and she compiled a staggering 117-16 , the former US Open junior champion who peaked at singles record during her four years in Gainesville. As a pro in 2013, a career-high No. 97 in the world in March 2015 after reaching she won her second USTA Pro Circuit singles title at the $10,000 the second round of the WTA’s Rio Open and competing in Indian event in Fort Worth, Texas, after also winning a title in Wichita, Kan., Wells. In 2014, Min reached the semifinals of the WTA event in in 2008. Last year, Embree captured her third and fourth USTA Pro Bad Gastein, Austria—her first-ever WTA semifinal—and competed Circuit/ITF-level doubles titles in Australia. In 2009, Embree won at the US Open and main draws, qualifying at Roland a USTA wild-card playoff to earn a berth into the main draw of the Garros. She was one of the top juniors in the world in 2011, when French Open, where she lost in the opening round to former world she won the US Open girls’ singles title and the Wimbledon girls’ No. 3 . doubles title. Those results helped propel her to No. 4 in the world junior rankings. In 2013, she qualified for the French Open—her , who completed her sophomore year at the University of first main-draw Grand Slam appearance outside the U.S.—as well as North Carolina in 2015, where she won the NCAA Division I singles the US Open. She holds six USTA Pro Circuit singles titles overall, title that year, becoming the first singles national champion in including the $25,000 event in Florence, S.C., in October 2015. North Carolina women’s tennis history. Loeb was also the top-ranked Earlier this month, Min advanced to the semifinals of the $25,000 college tennis player for most of her freshman year. As a freshman, USTA Pro Circuit event in Daytona Beach, Fla. she was named the 2014 Intercollegiate Tennis Association Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year, as well as the 2014 ACC Women’s , who graduated from Stanford in 2014 as a four-time Tennis Player of the Year—making her the third North Carolina All-American. Ahn went 97-17 in four seasons at Stanford and player ever to earn that distinction. In 2014, Loeb won the inaugural was named the 2014 ITA National Senior Player of the Year. She American College Invitational at the US Open. Loeb has now turned qualified for the 2008 US Open, where she lost to former world pro and earned a wild card into the 2015 US Open, where she lost No. 1 Dinara Safina in the first round. Ahn has also won five USTA to 2014 US Open finalist in the first round. Loeb Pro Circuit/ITF-level singles titles, including two titles in Korea and was also a standout junior player, reaching the quarterfinals at the Canada in 2015, and one doubles title in 2010. She made her first Wimbledon girls’ event in 2013 and the junior singles final at the appearance in Australian Open qualifying this month. 2013 USTA International Spring Championships in Carson, Calif.; she also won the doubles title in Carson. Loeb holds four USTA Pro , who graduated from UCLA last year after earning Circuit singles titles, including the $25,000 event in El Paso, Texas, All-America honors in both singles and doubles for the fourth last year, and five doubles titles. She trains at the John McEnroe consecutive year, becoming the seventh player in school history to Tennis Academy in Randall’s Island, N.Y., and turned pro at the accomplish that feat. She was named the ITA National Collegiate 2015 US Open. Player of the Year for 2014-15. Anderson was part of UCLA’s NCAA title-winning team in 2014 and reached the NCAA doubles final Canada’s Francoise Abanda, 18, who peaked at No. 4 in the ITF in 2013. At the 2015 US Open, she won the American Collegiate World Junior Rankings in 2013. She advanced to the semifinals Invitational, a tournament for the top U.S. college players. In of the junior French Open in 2014 and the semifinals of junior her career, Anderson has won one USTA Pro Circuit singles title Wimbledon in 2012. Abanda has also competed on the junior Fed ($10,000 Landisville, Pa., in 2011) and one doubles title ($25,000 Cup team. She won her first USTA Pro Circuit singles title in 2014 Redding, Calif., in 2013). As a junior player, she reached the singles at the $25,000 event in Port St. Lucie, Fla., and also holds two quarterfinals at the 2010 junior US Open. USTA Pro Circuit/ITF-level doubles titles. *Player field subject to change TOURNAMENT NOTES

USTA PRO CIRCUIT YOUTH TENNIS

With approximately 90 tournaments hosted annually throughout the country and prize money ranging The USTA is making it easier and more fun for kids to get into from $10,000 to $100,000, the USTA Pro Circuit is the pathway to the US Open and tour-level competition the game—and stay in the game. Kids are learning to play for aspiring tennis players and a frequent battleground for established professionals. The USTA launched faster than ever before through the USTA’s youth initiative, 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 which is geared toward getting more kids to participate in $3 million in prize money. Last year, more than 1,000 men and women from more than 70 countries tennis using modified equipment and courts tailored to a competed in cities nationwide. John Isner, Maria Sharapova, Andy Murray, Caroline Woznaicki, Kei child’s size. For more information, visit YouthTennis.com. Nishikori, and Sam Querrey are among today’s top stars who began their careers on the USTA Pro Circuit. USTA FOUNDATION More recently, the USTA Pro Circuit was a pathway to success for two young USTA Foundation, the national charitable organization of Americans in 2015—Samantha Crawford the USTA, helps serve up dreams for under-resourced youth; and Frances Tiafoe. Crawford, the 2012 US individuals with disabilities; and wounded, ill and injured Open girls’ singles champion, started the service members, veterans and their families. The foundation 2015 season ranked No. 293 and competed Photography Vomund supports programs nationwide that leverage tennis and in 23 USTA Pro Circuit events throughout education to help those in need, primarily through the National the year. She went on to win the first USTA & Learning (NJTL) network, and other efforts Pro Circuit singles title of her career at the to assist military personnel, veterans and individuals with $50,000 event in Scottsdale, Ariz., and also disabilities. To date, it has awarded more than $19 million in won two of the USTA Pro Circuit’s wild card grants and scholarships to hundreds of programs, benefitting challenges to earn wild cards into the 2015 thousands of children and adults through a tennis, education US Open and ; the wild and health curricula. For more information, visit the website card challenges were based upon results on www.ustafoundation.com. the USTA Pro Circuit. Crawford’s hard work paid off, and in January 2016, she rose to No. 107 in the world after a strong start to the year in Australia, where she reached her Samantha Crawford US OPEN NATIONAL PLAYOFFS first WTA semifinal in Brisbane as a qualifier. The USTA launched the Tiafoe, a former world No. 2 junior who turned pro early in 2015, started last season US Open National Playoffs in ranked No. 1,143. His successes on the USTA Pro Circuit not only allowed Tiafoe to finish the year ranked 2010, making the US Open No. 176, but also gave him experience on the Grand Slam stage. Tiafoe won the Har-Tru USTA Pro Circuit “open” to anyone age 14+ and Wild Card Challenge to earn a spot in the , which marked his Grand Slam debut. He of all skill levels. Last year, more also won his first USTA Pro Circuit singles title in 2015 at the $15,000 Futures in Bakersfield, Calif., and than 1,450 players competed reached three additional finals. Tiafoe also competed in the 2015 US Open as a wild card and continues in 13 Sectional Qualifying to climb in the rankings. Tournaments nationwide for a 2015 US Open Qualifying USTA PLAYER DEVELOPMENT Tournament wild card. A men’s doubles, women’s doubles, and mixed doubles element also was held, with the winning team The USTA Player Development program, working with the American Tennis Family of players, coaches earning a US Open main draw doubles wild card. Registration for and families, helps to identify and develop the next generation of American champions by surrounding all 2016 sectional events opens on March 15, with tournaments top junior players and young pros with the resources, facilities and coaching they need to reach their taking place in May and June. The US Open National Playoffs will maximum potential. The Player Development program is based at the USTA Training Center Headquarters take place in New Haven in August. For more information and the in Boca Raton, Fla., and utilizes National Training Centers in Carson, Calif., and Flushing, N.Y., as well as schedule, and to vie for a chance to compete in the US Open, visit a network of Certified Regional Training Centers located throughout the United States. www.usopen.org/NationalPlayoffs.

SUNRISE PAST WINNERS Singles Doubles Year Winner Runner-Up Year Winner 2015 (USA) (ESP) 2015 Katerina Stewart (USA) / (RUS)