TournamenT noTes as of september 7, 2010 2011 USTA OAK RIVER REHAB CHALLENGER REDDING, CA • SEPTEMBER 11–18 USTA PRO CIRCUIT WOMEN’S TENNIS RETURNS TO REDDING TournamenT InFormaTIon The 2011 USTA Oak River Rehab Challenger is back for the ninth straight season on the USTA Pro Circuit. The tournament is the Site: Sun Oaks Tennis & Fitness – Redding, Calif. fourth and final USTA Pro Circuit women’s Michael Baz Websites: www.sunoakschallenger.com event held in California this year and the procircuit.usta.com first tournament to take place following the US Open. Qualifying Draw Begins: Sunday, September 11 Main Draw Begins: Tuesday, September 13 This year’s main draw will feature 2011 USTA Girls’ 18s National Champion Lauren Davis, Main Draw: 32 Singles / 16 Doubles who ended the 2010 season on a 27-match Surface: Hard / Outdoor winning streak, sweeping three ITF Junior Circuit tournaments, a $25,000 USTA Pro Prize Money: $25,000 Circuit event and the USTA’s Australian Open Tournament Director: Wild Card Playoffs. After finishing 2010 as the No. 3 junior in the world, the 17-year-old Julie Garcia, (530) 227-3498 Davis this year won two USTA Pro Circuit [email protected] titles at the $10,000 events in Atlanta and Tournament Press Contact: Buffalo, N.Y. Her 2011 USTA Girls’ 18s title Bill Allpress, (530) 244-3058 also earned her a wild card into the main 17-year-old Lauren Davis won the 2011 USTA [email protected] draw of the US Open three weeks ago. Girls’ 18s National Championships to earn a wild card into this year’s US Open. USTA Public Relations Contact: The main draw also is expected to include: Joshua Rey, (786) 554-5667 Julia Boserup, a full-time trainee at the USTA [email protected] Training Center Headquarters in Boca Raton, Fla., who, as a junior, won the 2008 Dunlop and world No. 571 Fatma Al Nabhani, the PrIze money / PoInTs Orange Bowl and, as a professional, advanced only ranked tennis player—male or female— to the semifinals of the $25,000 event from Oman. SINGLES: Prize Money Ranking Points in Jackson, Miss, earlier this year; former Winner $2,940 50 world No. 32 Olga Puchkova of Russia, who Quite a few players who competed in Runner-Up $1,666 34 reached two WTA finals in 2006, the same the 2011 US Open National Playoffs are Semifinalist $1,078 24 year she defeated eventual world No. 1s expected in Redding, including: Yasmin Quarterfinalist $686 14 Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic; former Schnack, who reached the US Open National Round 16 $490 8 University of Utah standout Elizabeth Ferris; Playoffs women’s singles final and the mixed Round 32 $294 1 doubles final, and formerly competed for DOUBLES: Prize Money (per team) UCLA; Macall Harkins, who played for Texas Winner $1,176 Christian University and won the US Open Runner-Up $686 National Playoffs USTA Southern California Semifinalist $392 sectional qualifier;Amanda McDowell, the Don Starr Quarterfinalist $196 2008 NCAA Division I singles champion Round 16 $98 at Georgia Tech, who captured the USTA Southern sectional qualifier; and former University of Missouri-St. Louis standout CommunITy eVenTs Whitney Jones, who played mixed doubles Tues., Sept. 13–Thurs., Sept. 15 in the US Open National Playoffs with 2010 School Visits with the USTA and pro players and 2011 US Open National Playoffs men’s champion Blake Strode. Wed., Sept. 14 High School/Competitive Player Workout with the Pros, 4:30-6 p.m. Yasmin Schnack reached the singles final of Fri., Sept. 16 the 2011 US Open National Playoffs-Women’s USTA Appreciation Night, 4:30 p.m. Championship. Sat., Sept. 17 Kids’ Carnival, 9-10:30 a.m. TournamenT noTes Also expected in action are four up-and-coming 19-year-olds: Camila Several current WTA stars have found success in Redding. China’s Giorgi of Italy, who qualified at Wimbledon in June and reached Zheng Jie, the 2003 Redding singles runner-up, peaked at No. 15 in three USTA Pro Circuit semifinals and two finals this year;Kurumi singles in 2009 and No. 3 in doubles in 2006. She became the first Nara, a member of the Japanese Fed Cup team who qualified at the Chinese player to reach a Grand Slam singles semifinal at Wimbledon French Open and Wimbledon in 2010; Alyona Sotnikova of Ukraine, in 2008 and repeated the feat at the 2010 Australian Open. Zheng a regular on the USTA Pro Circuit who reached the semifinals of this and Yan Zi, who won the Redding doubles title together in 2003, went season’s $25,000 event in El Paso, Texas; and Tamaryn Hendler, a on to capture doubles titles at the Australian Open and Wimbledon multinational player who represents Belgium, trains in Florida and was in 2006. Current world No. 26 and 2005 Redding singles champion born in South Africa. Lucie Safarova, from the Czech Republic, has won four WTA singles titles and reached the quarterfinals of the 2007 Australian Open. Those receiving main draw wild cards include: Stanford freshman Canada’s Aleksandra Wozniak, the 2008 Redding singles runner-up, Ellen Tsay, who was ranked No. 1 in the USTA Girls’ 18s, 16s and went on to win the Stanford WTA title later that season, rising as high 14s divisions at different stages of her junior career, helping her as No. 21 in the world after reaching the fourth round of the 2009 become one of the top-rated recruits in the nation; Allie Will, a French Open. University of Florida All-American who won 18 of 20 matches at No. 1 singles to lead the Gators to the 2011 NCAA team championship; and Maria Sanchez of USC, who finished her senior season ranked in the Top 5 in both singles and doubles. REDDING PAST WINNERS Singles Doubles Year Winner Runner-Up Year Winner 2010 Jamie Hampton (USA) Jelena Pandzic (CRO) 2010 Christina Fusano (USA) – Yasmin Schanck (USA) 2009 Laura Granville (USA) Rika Fujiwara (JPN) 2009 Anna Orlik (BLR) – Masa Zec-Peskiric (SLO) 2008 Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (CZE) Aleksandra Wozniak (CAN) 2008 Angela Haynes (USA) – Abigail Spears (USA) 2007 Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE) Ekaterina Afinogenova (RUS) 2007 Chin-Wei Chan (TPE) – Julie Ditty (USA) 2006 Diana Ospina (USA) Anne Keothavong (GBR) 2006 Vasilisa Bardina (RUS) – Ahsha Rolle (USA) 2005 Lucie Safarova (CZE) Ivana Lisjak (CRO) 2005 Yulia Beygelzimer (UKR) – Stephanie Dubois (CAN) 2004 Anne Keothavong (GBR) Mashona Washington (USA) 2004 Jennifer Hopkins (USA) – Mashona Washington (USA) 2003 Jana Nejedly (CAN) Zheng Jie (CHN) 2003 Yan Zi (CHN) – Zheng Jie (CHN) TournamenT noTes USTA PRO CIRCUIT 10 AND UNDER TENNIS With 90-plus tournaments hosted annually throughout the country and prize money ranging from $10,000 10 and Under Tennis is a nationwide USTA initiative that to $100,000, the USTA Pro Circuit is the pathway to the US Open and tour-level competition for aspiring uses the QuickStart Tennis play format and takes a better tennis players and a frequent battleground for established professionals. The USTA launched its Pro Circuit approach to introducing kids to the game. Balls are lower in 32 years ago to provide players with the opportunity to gain professional ranking points, and it has since compression, so they are easier to hit; racquets are sized for grown to become the largest developmental tennis circuit in the world, offering more than $2.5 million in small hands; and the courts are smaller and easier to cover. prize money. Last year, more than 1,000 men and women from more than 70 countries competed in cities Full-sized courts can now be reconfigured to accommodate nationwide. Maria Sharapova, Andy Roddick, Caroline Wozniacki, James Blake, Justine Henin, Andy up to six 36-foot courts. In turn, kids learn, rally, play and Murray and Sam Querrey are among today’s top stars who began their careers on the USTA Pro Circuit. compete right from the start, and the game becomes more accessible and fun for them. For more information, visit The USTA Pro Circuit helped launch the www.10andundertennis.com. careers of two young Americans— Melanie Melanie Oudin Oudin and John Isner. Oudin began 2009 ranked No. 177, but climbed the rankings NJTL by winning back-to-back $50,000 USTA Pro Circuit events. With a boost in confidence, she Cities across the country participate in the USTA/National Junior reached the fourth round of Wimbledon and Tennis and Learning (NJTL) network, a nationwide network of the quarterfinals of the 2009 US Open. She community tennis organizations seeking to develop the character peaked at world No. 31 in 2010 and has been of young people through both tennis and education. Founded a crucial player on the U.S. Fed Cup team. by Arthur Ashe in 1969, more than 550 registered chapters/ Isner joined the USTA Pro Circuit after turning programs exist throughout the nation with more than 220,000 pro in 2007 and jump-started the best season participants ages 6-18, making NJTL one of the USTA’s largest of his career by winning the Tallahassee community-based initiatives. Challenger in 2009. Subsequently, he reached the semifinals at two Olympus US Open Series events and upset Andy Roddick en route to US OPEN NATIONAL PlayoffS the fourth round at the 2009 US Open. Last year, Isner captured his first tour title, reached The USTA launched the US Open three tour finals, and also won the longest National Playoffs last year, making the match in history at Wimbledon. He finished US Open “open” to anyone age 14+ and 2010 ranked in the Top 20.