TournamenT noTes as of July 18, 2012 FIFTH THIRD BANK TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS LEXINGTON, KY • JULY 21-29 USTA PRO CIRCUIT RETURNS TO LEXINGTON TournamenT InFormaTIon The Fifth Third Bank Tennis Championships is taking place in Lexington for the 15th Site: University of Kentucky straight year. It is held in conjunction with Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex, Lexington, Ky. a $50,000 USTA Pro Circuit women’s event David Kenas this week. Lexington is one of two combined Websites: www.lexingtonchallenger.com men’s and women’s events on the calendar procircuit.usta.com this year (joining Vancouver, which takes Facebook: Fifth Third Bank Tennis Championships place next week). It is the only USTA Pro Circuit event in the state of Kentucky. Twitter: @53Tennis Qualifying Draw Begins: Saturday, July 21 This year, the USTA will award one men’s singles main draw wild card into the 2012 Main Draw Begins: Monday, July 23 US Open to the American man who finishes Main Draw: 32 Singles / 16 Doubles with the most ranking points accumulated in two of the following four USTA Pro Circuit Surface: Hard / Outdoors events: Lexington and its fellow $50,000 event Prize Money: $50,000 in Binghamton (held last week), and/or the $100,000 events in Vancouver, Canada, and Tournament Director: Aptos, Calif. (all held over the next few weeks). Brooks Lundy, (859) 509-9707, [email protected] Tournament Press Contact: On Tuesday, July 24, the tournament will hold Jim Durham, (859) 806-6104 a Kids’ Day featuring 10 and Under Tennis clinics. 10 and Under Tennis is a nationwide Recent University of Kentucky graduate and [email protected] 2012 NCAA singles finalist Eric Quigley USTA initiative that scales the game to size received a wild card into Lexington. USTA Communications Contacts: for younger players. 10 and Under Tennis Amanda Korba, (914) 697-2219, [email protected] uses smaller courts, slower-moving and Eric Schuster, (914) 696-7260, [email protected] lower-bouncing balls, and smaller and lighter Among those competing in the singles main racquets designed specifically for kids. As such, PrIze money / PoInTs draw in Lexington is former world No. 15 kids learn, rally, play and compete right from Robby Ginepri, the only active American SINGLES: Prize Money Ranking Points the start, making the game more accessible and male other than Andy Roddick to reach the Winner $7,200 80 more fun, and increasing the chance that kids semifinals of a Grand Slam event—at the Runner-up $4,240 48 will stick with tennis for a lifetime. 2005 US Open, where he lost in five sets Semifinalist $2,510 29 to Andre Agassi. Ginepri has reached the Quarterfinalist $1,460 15 fourth round or better at all four Grand Slam Round of 16 $860 7 tournaments and competed for the U.S. Davis Round of 32 $520 - Cup team in 2004 and 2009. DOUBLES: Prize Money (per team) Winner $3,100 Getty Images Another American in the field is 2010 Runner-up $1,800 US Open boys’ runner-up and former top Semifinalist $1,080 junior Denis Kudla, who has been ranked Quarterfinalist $640 in the Top 200 most of 2012. He reached Round of 16 $360 the final round of qualifying at this year’s Wimbledon and qualified for the main draw CommunITy eVenTs at the Australian Open earlier this year—his Monday, July 23 first time in the main draw of a Grand Slam Pro-Am, 5:30 p.m. event. Kudla served as a practice partner for Tuesday, July 24 the U.S. Davis Cup team for its quarterfinal Kids’ Day featuring 10 and Under Tennis victory over France earlier this year. 10 a.m.-12 p.m. and 1-3 p.m. Tuesday, July 24 Ladies Lunch, 12:30 p.m. Former world No. 15 Robby Ginepri reached the Ladies Round Robin, 5:30 p.m. semifinals of the 2005 US Open, where he lost Ladies Night, 6:30 p.m. in five sets to Andre Agassi. Saturday, July 28 Adult Clinic, 10 a.m. *Player field subject to change TournamenT noTes Recently graduated University of Kentucky standout Eric Quigley has Circuit after recently playing in South Korea. McClune won the USTA received a wild card into the main draw. Quigley was the 2012 NCAA Boys’ 18s singles crown to earn a wild card into the main draw of the singles finalist and finished his college career tied with Clemson’s 2007 US Open, his only Grand Slam main draw appearance to date. Rick Rudeen for the most victories (172) in NCAA tennis history. He is expected to turn pro this month. Among the other players in qualifying are: 2010 NCAA singles champion Bradley Klahn, who launched his professional career earlier Other wild cards are: Daniel Kosakowski, who turned professional this month after finishing his collegiate career at Stanford;Austin following his freshman year at UCLA, won his first professional title in Krajicek, a five-time All-American for Texas A&M who won the 2011 2011 at a Futures in Sacramento, Calif., and reached the final of the NCAA men’s doubles title with fellow Lexington entrant Jeff Dadamo; $15,000 USTA Pro Circuit event in Calabasas, Calif., in mid-March; and Blake Strode, who won consecutive men’s singles titles at the and Chase Buchanan, the 2012 NCAA men’s doubles champion for US Open National Playoffs in 2010 and 2011 to twice earn wild Ohio State, who, since June, has reached the semifinals or better of cards into the US Open Qualifying Tournament, having deferred all four USTA Pro Circuit events he has played as a member of the admission into Harvard Law School in order to pursue a professional 2012 USTA Collegiate Team. The USTA Collegiate Team is designed tennis career. to provide college players with valuable exposure to the USTA Pro Circuit in a team-oriented environment. Many current ATP World Tour stars have found success in Lexington. 2007 singles champion and London Olympian John Isner defended Former University of Tennessee All-Americans Tennys Sandgren and his ATP World Tour singles title at the grass-court event in Newport, Rhyne Williams are both scheduled to play in the main draw this R.I., two weeks ago. Isner cracked the world Top 10 earlier in 2012 week. Sandgren has won five USTA Pro Circuit singles titles in the and has been key player for the U.S. Davis Cup Team, earning singles last year and has climbed more than 250 spots in the ATP World wins against Switzerland and France over Top 5 players Roger Federer Tour rankings since the beginning of this year due in large part to his and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, respectively. Isner also won the longest match success on the USTA Pro Circuit. Williams, the 2011 NCAA singles in tennis history at Wimbledon in 2010, playing 11 hours over three finalist, has claimed three USTA Pro Circuit Futures titles since days to defeat Nicolas Mahut, 70-68, in the fifth set. beginning his professional career last summer and has been ranked as high as No. 279 in the world. Lleyton Hewitt, the 1998 Lexington doubles champion, went on to become the No. 1 player in the world in 2001 after winning the Other players in the main draw include: Michael Yani, a four-time US Open that year. Hewitt also captured the Wimbledon title in USTA Pro Circuit singles champion who reached the semifinals at the 2002 and has won a total of 28 ATP World Tour singles titles. 2008 ATP World Tour grass-court event in Newport, R.I., as a qualifier in Lexington singles champion and former University of Virginia standout summer 2011, and who successfully qualified for the main draw of Somdev Devvarman, from India, peaked at a career-high No. 62 in the 2011 US Open; and last year’s finalist at Lexington,James Ward 2011 soon after reaching the round of 16 at the ATP Masters Series of Great Britain, who achieved a career-high ranking of No. 137 earlier event in Indian Wells, Calif., and the third round of the Masters event this year and holds seven career professional singles titles, including in Miami the following week. 2007 doubles champion Ryan Sweeting an ITF title in China this year. soared to a career-best ranking of No. 64 in the months after winning his first ATP World Tour singles title at the U.S. Men’s Clay Court Those competing in qualifying include: Greg Ouellette, who won the Championships in Houston in April 2011. He also qualified and bronze medal in doubles at the 2011 Pan Am Games with Nicholas advanced to the second round of the 2011 Australian Open. Monroe; and Michael McClune, who is returning to the USTA Pro *Player field subject to change LEXINGTON PAST WINNERS Singles Doubles Year Winner Runner-Up Year Winner 2011 Wayne Odesnik (USA) James Ward (GBR) 2011 Jordan Kerr (AUS) – David Martin (USA) 2010 Carsten Ball (AUS) Jesse Levine (USA) 2010 Raven Klaasen (RSA) – Izak Van Der Merwe (RSA) 2009 Harel Levy (ISR) Alex Kuznetsov (USA) 2009 Kevin Anderson (RSA) – Ryler DeHeart (USA) 2008 Somdev Devvarman (IND) Robert Kendrick (USA) 2008 Alessandro Da Col (ITA) – Andrea Stoppini (ITA) 2007 John Isner (USA) Brian Wilson (USA) 2007 Brendan Evans (USA) – Ryan Sweeting (USA) 2006 Hyun-Taik Lee (KOR) Amer Delic (USA) 2006 Sanchai Ratiwatana (THA) – Sonchat Ratiwatana (THA) 2005 Dudi Sela (ISR) Bobby Reynolds (USA) 2005 Scoville Jenkins (USA) – Bobby Reynolds (USA) 2004 Matias Boeker (USA) Jesse Witten (USA) 2004 Matias Boeker (USA) – Amer Delic (USA) 2003 Frank Dancevic (CAN) Petr Kralert (CZE) 2003 Jonathan Erlich (ISR) – Takao Suzuki (JPN) 2002 Scott Draper (AUS) Paul Goldstein (USA) 2002 Jack Brasington (USA) – Glenn Weiner (USA) 2001 Paul Goldstein (USA) Jack Brasington (USA) 2001 John-Laffnie de Jager (RSA) – Robbie Koenig (RSA) 2000 Takao Suzuki (JPN) Justin Gimelstob (USA) 2000 Lorenzo Manta (SUI) – Laurence Tieleman (ITA) 1999 Harel Levy (ISR) Kevin Kim (USA) 1999 Michael Sell (USA) – Gabriel Trifu (ROU) 1998 Paul Goldstein (USA) Hyung-Taik Lee (KOR) 1998 Ben Ellwood (AUS) – Lleyton Hewitt (AUS) TournamenT noTes USTA PRO CIRCUIT 10 AND UNDER TENNIS With approximately 90 tournaments hosted annually throughout the country and prize money ranging from On January 1, the USTA announced that the rules of tennis $10,000 to $100,000, the USTA Pro Circuit is the pathway to the US Open and tour-level competition for have officially changed and require that 10 and Under Tennis aspiring tennis players and a frequent battleground for established professionals.