TournamenT noTes as of september 23, 2015 LAGUNA NIGUEL USTA PRO FUTURES LAGUNA NIGUEL, CA • SEPTEMBER 25-OCTOBER 4 USTA PRO CIRCUIT RETURNS TO LAGUNA NIGUEL TournamenT InFormaTIon The Laguna Niguel USTA Pro Futures returns to Laguna Niguel after one year away from Site: Laguna Niguel Racquet Club the USTA Pro Circuit schedule. The event was Laguna Niguel, Calif. also held in 1979, from 1999 to 2009, and again in 2011 and 2013. It is the last of three Website: procircuit.usta.com Ryan USTA/Steven consecutive $10,000 USTA Pro Circuit events Qualifying Draw Begins: Friday, Sept. 25 held in California, following Claremont and Costa Mesa. Main Draw Begins: Tuesday, Sept. 29 Main Draw: 32 Singles / 16 Doubles To follow the tournament, download the USTA Pro Circuit’s new phone app for smartphones Surface: Hard / Outdoor and tablets by searching “procircuit” in the Prize Money: $10,000 Apple and Google Play stores. Tournament Director: Notable players competing in Laguna Niguel Mark Spearman, (949) 633-7711 include: [email protected] Tournament Press Contact: Noah Rubin, who completed a standout Rachel Kahan freshman year at Wake Forest in May, finishing [email protected] the year at No. 5 in the collegiate rankings and advancing to the 2015 NCAA singles Noah Rubin finished a standout freshman year USTA Communications Contact: final. He also became the first player in ACC at Wake Forest in May by reaching the NCAA Amanda Korba, (914) 697-2219, [email protected] men’s tennis history to earn ACC Player of singles final. As a junior player, Rubin won the the Year and Freshman of the Year honors in 2014 Wimbledon boys’ singles title PrIze money / PoInTs one season, and the first ACC men’s tennis SINGLES: Prize Money Ranking Points Player of the Year in Wake Forest men’s tennis Winner $1,440 17 history. He was also the ITA Rookie of the 18s national singles title and the Wimbledon Runner-up $848 9 Year and earned All-America honors. Rubin, junior title. At the All England Club, Rubin Semifinalist $502 5 who recently turned pro, was also a standout won the first all-American boys’ singles final Quarterfinalist $292 2 junior player, winning the 2014 USTA Boys’ at Wimbledon since 1977, topping Stefan Round of 16 $172 1 Kozlov in the title match. Rubin then made Round of 32 $104 - his Grand Slam men’s singles debut at the US Open, having earned a wild card through DOUBLES: Prize Money (per team) his victory at the USTA Boys’ 18s. This Winner $620 Dave Kenas summer, Rubin has reached the final of Runner-up $360 the $15,000 Futures in Tulsa, Okla., and Semifinalist $216 the semifinals at the $15,000 Futures in Quarterfinalist $128 Wichita, Kan. He also received a main draw Round of 16 $0 wild card into the ATP’s Hall of Fame Tennis Championships in Newport, R.I., this summer and competed in US Open qualifying. Rubin is a protégé of John McEnroe’s at his Randall’s Island, N.Y., academy. Ray Sarmiento, who graduated from USC in 2014, where he helped the Trojans win their 20th (in 2012) and 21st (in 2014) NCAA team titles. Sarmiento earned All-America honors at Ray Sarmiento graduated from USC in 2014, where he helped the Trojans win their 21st NCAA team title; they also won the team title in 2012. *Player field subject to change TournamenT noTes USC and ranked in the Top 10 in the collegiate rankings. He won his first top-ranked college player from January through June of 2014. He also career pro title this June in doubles at an ITF-level event in Canada. earned All-America honors his senior year in singles and was named the 2014 Intercollegiate Tennis Association National Senior Player of the Ernesto Escobedo, who received a wild card into the 2014 US Open Year. This year, Thompson won his first ITF-level singles title in Mexico Qualifying Tournament and lost in the final round. Escobedo reached and reached the quarterfinals or better at three consecutive USTA Pro the quarterfinals or better at three straight USTA Pro Circuit events in Circuit events this July. the summer of 2014. This summer, he qualified for two $50,000 USTA Pro Circuit Challengers, in Binghamton, N.Y., and Winnetka, Ill., and Hunter Nicholas, who played collegiately for San Diego State University. reached the quarterfinals of the $10,000 USTA Pro Circuit Futures in Nicholas has had a successful year in doubles, winning four USTA Pro Claremont, Calif., earlier this month. Circuit/ITF-level titles this year and reaching five additional finals. Wil Spencer, who graduated from the University of Georgia in 2012 Phillip Simmonds, who is using a protected ranking in Laguna Niguel after playing two seasons at Texas A&M. Spencer went 104-49 in four and is playing in his first USTA Pro Circuit tournament since November seasons between the two schools and reached the round of 16 at the 2012. Simmonds has ranked as high as No. 219 in singles and 2012 NCAA tournament. His final collegiate singles ranking was No. 200 in doubles, winning four USTA Pro Circuit/ITF-level singles No. 11. Spencer reached the doubles final at the $15,000 Futures in titles and eight doubles titles. He played in the 2006 US Open main Calabasas, Calif., in March. He holds two USTA Pro Circuit doubles draw in singles as a wild card, losing to Richard Gasquet in the first titles, winning at the $10,000 Futures in Vero Beach, Fla., this year round, and in the US Open doubles main draw on three occasions. He and the $10,000 Futures in Niceville, Fla., in 2014. works at John McEnroe’s Sportime Academy at Randall’s Island in New York. Earlier this year, he won the US Open National Playoffs’ USTA Clay Thompson, who graduated from UCLA in 2014, where he was the Eastern men’s doubles title. *Player field subject to change LAGUNA NIGUEL PAST WINNERS Singles Doubles Year Winner Runner-Up Year Winner 2014 Event not held 2014 Event not held 2013 Marcos Giron (USA) Jarmere Jenkins (USA) 2013 Yoshihito Nishioka (JPN) – Alan Nunez Aguilera (MEX) 2012 Event not held 2012 Event not held 2011 Denis Kudla (USA) Dennis Lajola (USA) 2011 Benjamin Rogers (USA) – John Patrick Smith (AUS) 2010 Event not held 2010 Event not held 2009 Ryan Harrison (USA) Richard Bloomfield (GBR) 2009 Ryan Harrison (USA) – Michael Venus (NZL) 2008 Lester Cook (USA) Martin Pedersen (DEN) 2008 Colt Gaston (USA) – Ryan Rowe (USA) 2007 Lester Cook (USA) Nikita Kryvonos (USA) 2007 Justin Natale (USA) – Levar Harper-Griffith (USA) 2006 Brian Wilson (USA) Izak Van Der Merwe (RSA) 2006 Brad Pomeroy (USA) – Stephen Ward (USA) 2005 Benjamin Becker (GER) Zack Fleishman (USA) 2005 Philip Gubenco (CAN) – Erik Chvojka (CAN) 2004 Horia Tecau (ROU) Wayne Odesnik (USA) 2004 Mirko Pehar (USA) – Jeremy Wurtzman (USA) 2003 Jimy Szymanski (VEN) Robert Yim (USA) 2003 Scott Lipsky (USA) – David Martin (USA) 2002 Rajeev Ram (USA) Zack Fleishman (USA) 2002 Jason Cook (USA) – Lester Cook (USA) 2001 Brian Vahaly (USA) John Doran (IRL) 2001 Diego Ayala (USA) – Travis Rettenmaier (USA) 2000 Justin Bower (RSA) Alex Kim (USA) 2000 Karol Beck (SVK) – Cedric Kauffmann (FRA) 1999 Alexander Peya (AUT) Taylor Dent (USA) 1999 Gareth Williams (RSA) – Jeff Williams (USA) 1980-1998 Event not held 1980-1998 Event not held 1979 Tom Leonard (USA) Byron Bertram (RSA) 1979 Junie Chatman (USA) – Bruce Foxworth (USA) 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 for aspiring tennis players and a frequent battleground for established professionals. The USTA launched the game—and stay in the game. Kids are learning to play its Pro Circuit in 1979 to provide players with the opportunity to gain professional ranking points, and faster than ever before through the USTA’s youth initiative, 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 competed in cities nationwide. Victoria Azarenka, Eugenie Bouchard, John Isner, Andy Murray, Kei tennis using modified equipment and courts tailored to a child’s Nishikori, Sam Querrey, Maria Sharapova and Caroline Wozniacki are among today’s top stars who size. For more information, visit YouthTennis.com. began their careers on the USTA Pro Circuit. More recently, the USTA Pro Circuit helped further the careers of two young NJTL Americans—Stefan Kozlov and Nicole Gibbs. Runner-up in 2014 at the junior Amber Alva Founded in 1969 by Arthur Ashe, along with Charlie Pasarell championships of the Australian Open and and Sheridan Snyder, the USTA/National Junior Tennis & Wimbledon, Kozlov reached the final of the Learning (NJTL) network is a nationwide group of more than Sacramento Challenger last October at age 16, becoming the youngest American to 625 non-profit youth development organizations that provide reach a Challenger final since Andre Agassi free or low-cost tennis, education and life skills programming in 1986. That result vaulted Kozlov to to more than 350,000 children each year. Celebrating its No. 443 in the world, making him the 45th anniversary this year, NJTL is one of the USTA’s largest youngest player in the ATP World Tour community-based offerings.