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Home , Alex Kim, Bobby Reynolds, Brian Vahaly, Donald Young (tennis), Frank Dancevic, Horst Skoff

Tournament Notes

as of April 25, 2014

USTA TALLAHASSEE CHALLENGER TALLAHASSEE, FL • APRIL 26-MAY 3

USTA PRO CIRCUIT RETURNS TO TALLAHASSEE AS LAST EVENT OF THE HAR-TRU USTA PRO CIRCUIT WILD CARD CHALLENGE The USTA Tallahassee Tennis Challenger is taking place for the 22nd consecutive year— making it one of the longest-running USTA Pro TOURNAMENT information Circuit events. Tallahassee is one of 14 USTA Site: Forest Meadows Tennis Center – Tallahassee, Fla. Pro Circuit men’s events held in . Anthony Behar

Websites: www.tallahasseechallenger.com Tallahassee is also the last of three consecutive procircuit.usta.com men’s clay-court tournaments (joining a Facebook: USTA Tallahassee Challenger $100,000 event in Sarasota, Fla., held the week of April 14, and a $50,000 event in Twitter: @Tally Challenger Savannah, Ga., held the week of April 21) Wild Card Challenge Twitter: #USTAHarTruWC that are part of the Har-Tru USTA Pro Circuit Wild Card Challenge, which will award a Qualifying Draw Begins: Saturday, April 26 men’s and a women’s wild card into the 2014 Main Draw Begins: Monday, April 28 . Along with these three men’s tournaments, the women’s tournaments that Main Draw: 32 Singles / 16 Doubles are part of the challenge include the Dothan Surface: Clay / Outdoors Pro Classic in Dothan, Ala., held the week of Prize Money: $50,000 April 14; the Boyd Tinsley Classic in Once the world’s No. 1 junior, Charlottesville, Va., held the week of April 21; has ranked in the ATP World Tour Top 40 and Tournament Director: and the Audi Pro Tennis Classic in has represented the United States both in the Karen Vogter, (850) 545-8740 Indian Harbour Beach, Fla., held the week of Olympics and in . [email protected] April 28. Tournament Press Contact: agreement in which wild cards into the 2014 Nick McCarvel, (406) 438-2649, [email protected] The American man and American woman who earn the most ATP and WTA ranking points at French Open and US Open are exchanged. USTA Public Relations Contacts: two of three USTA Pro Circuit clay-court events Amanda Korba, (914) 697-2219, [email protected] will receive USTA wild cards to compete in This tournament will be streamed live on www. their respective main draws at the French procircuit.usta.com. Prize money / points Open, which runs Sunday, May 25, through SINGLES: Prize Money Ranking Points Sunday, June 8. U.S. players who do not Notable players competing in the main draw Winner $7,200 80 receive direct entry into the French Open are include: Runner-up $4,240 48 eligible for the wild cards. The USTA and the Semifinalist $2,510 29 French Tennis Federation have a reciprocal 2011 Tallahassee singles champion and 2009 Quarterfinalist $1,460 15 singles runner-up Donald Young, who made Round of 16 $860 7 his Davis Cup debut this year in the World Round of 32 $520 -- Group quarterfinal tie against Great Britain USTA DOUBLES: Prize Money (per team) in San Diego and also advanced to the third Winner $3,100 round of the . Young broke Runner-up $1,800 into the world’s Top 40 in February 2012 and Semifinalist $1,080 qualified for the 2012 U.S. Olympic team. Quarterfinalist $640 He competed in all four events Round of 16 $360 that year, reaching the second round of the Australian Open. In 2011, he reached the COMMUNITY EVENTS round of 16 at the US Open, upsetting two Monday, April 28 – Boys & Girls Club/ Top 30 players en route, for his best Grand Boys Town Tennis Jamboree, 4:30 p.m. Slam tournament result. Also that year, he Tuesday, April 29 – Elementary School 10 and Under Tennis Clinics, 10:00 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. Tournament wild card Daniel Kosakowski was Wednesday, April 30 – Elementary School 10 and the first-week leader in this year’s Har-Tru USTA Under Tennis Clinics, 10:00 a.m. and 11:30 a.m.; Pro Circuit Wild Card Challenge. He competed for Community Center Tennis Spectacular, 4:30 p.m. one season at UCLA, playing in the No. 1 singles position for the Bruins and earning 2011 Pac-10 Thursday, May 1 Freshman of the Year honors. Free USPTA Clinic, 11:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. Friday, May 2 *Player field subject to change Special Olympics Tennis Carnival, 10:00 a.m. Tournament Notes

reached the final of the ATP World Tour event in Bangkok and the tournament main draw debut—and, in the process, became one of just semifinals of the Emirates Airline US Open Series event in Washington, 13 qualifying wild cards in US Open recorded history to reach the main D.C. In April 2013, Young won an ATP Challenger in Leon, Mexico, for draw. At the 2012 US Open, he faced prior to Roddick’s his first title since 2011, and he qualified for and reached the second retirement announcement. In addition, Williams earned a wild card into round of the 2013 US Open. He then won the $50,000 USTA Pro the main draw by winning the USTA Australian Circuit Challenger in Napa, Calif., in September 2013, immediately Open Wild Card Playoffs, and he qualified for the . followed by a title at the $100,000 USTA Pro Circuit Challenger in Also last year, he reached the semifinals at the ATP clay-court event in Sacramento, Calif.—the sixth and seventh Challenger titles of his career Houston for his best ATP result. Williams turned pro in 2011 following on the USTA Pro Circuit. A standout junior player, Young was a two- his sophomore year at the University of Tennessee, where he reached time Grand Slam tournament champion (2005 Australian Open, 2007 the singles final at the 2011 NCAA Championships. He comes from a Wimbledon) and, at age 16 years, 5 months, became the youngest year- tennis family. His grandfather is Mike DePalmer Sr., a co-founder of the end world junior No. 1 in 2005. Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy, and his mother, Michelle DePalmer- Williams, is a former pro and 16s champion. Williams Tournament wild card Daniel Kosakowski, who was the first-week leader trains at the USTA Player Development’s Training Center Headquarters in the Har-Tru USTA Pro Circuit Wild Card Challenge after reaching the in Boca Raton, Fla., and is coached by his cousin, Christopher Williams. semifinals of the $100,000 event in Sarasota. Kosakowski competed for one season at UCLA, playing in the No. 1 singles position for 2008 Tallahassee singles champion and two-time doubles champion the Bruins and earning 2011 Pac-10 Freshman of the Year honors. , an ATP World Tour veteran who holds the record Kosakowski turned professional that same year and made a splash for most career singles and doubles titles on the USTA Pro Circuit, in his first full season as a pro in 2012, reaching the final round of capturing his 31st USTA Pro Circuit crown by winning the doubles qualifying at the US Open and winning back-to-back USTA Pro Circuit championship at the $50,000 Challenger in Napa, Calif., in September Futures events in California after the US Open. Behind those victories, 2013. Reynolds ascended to a career-best ranking of No. 63 in 2009 he cracked the Top 250 for the first time after starting 2012 ranked before suffering a wrist injury that sidelined him for seven months. outside the Top 400. Kosakowski spent the majority of 2013 competing He has reached the second round or better at all four Grand Slam overseas at ITF Pro Circuit events in South America and Asia. This year, tournaments in his career. In 2008, Reynolds posted his best Grand he advanced to the final round of qualifying at the Australian Open and Slam result by reaching the third round at Wimbledon. He also qualified won his fourth USTA Pro Circuit event at the $15,000 tournament in for Wimbledon and won his opening-round match in 2013 for his first Bakersfield, Calif. Kosakowski comes from a tennis-playing family; his Grand Slam singles win since 2008. He won his only ATP doubles brother and two sisters all played or are currently playing college tennis. title in 2006 in Indianapolis with Andy Roddick. Reynolds played at Vanderbilt University for three seasons, 2000-03, under coach and 2012 singles champion , who broke into the Top 100 former ATP doubles star , before turning pro after his junior in 2013 after advancing to the third round of the US Open, where year. He finished at No. 1 in the ITA collegiate rankings in 2003, the he lost a tight five-setter to then-No. 43 . The US same year he led Vanderbilt to the NCAA final. Open highlighted the strongest summer of Smyczek’s career; he also advanced to the second round of the Emirates Airline US Open Series , who is the men’s all-time leader in USTA Pro Circuit events in Washington, D.C., and Winston-Salem, N.C., and qualified for singles titles with 24, winning his most recent title at the end of 2013 . Also in 2013, the 5-foot-9 Smyczek advanced to the second at the $75,000 Challenger in Charlottesville, Va. With his victory in round of the Australian Open, defeating 6-foot-11 Ivo Karlovic in the Charlottesville, Russell became the oldest USTA Pro Circuit singles opening round. Smyczek regularly trains at Saddlebrook Resort in champion at the age of 35 years, 6 months and 2 days. Russell upset Tampa, Fla., and once lived with fellow American for a year then-No. 9 Mardy Fish en route to the semifinals of the ATP World Tour while training there. event in Houston in April 2012, and in summer 2013, he reached the semifinals of the ATP grass-court event in Newport, R.I.—his career- , the 2004 junior French Open runner-up (to Gael best ATP results. Russell also reached the semifinals of the ATP event Monfils), who earned a main draw wild card into the 2013 French Open in Memphis in 2014 as a qualifier and has consistently competed in by winning last year’s Har-Tru USTA Pro Circuit Wild Card Challenge all four Grand Slam tournaments. In 2001, Russell achieved his best via his results on the USTA Pro Circuit. Following the French Open, Grand Slam tournament result by reaching the fourth round of the Kuznetsov qualified for Wimbledon. Also in 2013, he won the $50,000 French Open, where he held a match point against defending champion USTA Pro Circuit Challenger in Binghamton, N.Y., and qualified for and Gustavo Kuerten before bowing in five sets, as Kuerten went on to claim advanced to the second round of the Emirates Airline US Open Series his third Roland Garros crown. event in Washington, D.C., where he lost to . Those results drove Kuznetsov’s ranking up to a career-high No. 120 in the world. In Nicolas Meister, who won his first ITF Pro Circuit singles title last year at 2012, he qualified for the Australian Open to make his first appearance the $10,000 ITF Pro Circuit event in Morelia, Mexico. Meister also won in a Grand Slam tournament main draw since 2007; he lost to Rafael an ITF Circuit doubles title last year in Mexico for the eighth professional Nadal in the first round. A native of Kiev, Ukraine, where his grandfather doubles title of his career. He graduated from UCLA in 2012 after a was a handball champion, Kuznetsov suffered a severe leg injury in a standout NCAA tennis career, and that year he also reached the singles 2005 car accident and needed a titanium rod and screw placed in his and mixed doubles finals of the US Open National Playoffs. right leg. He came back to play in his first US Open main draw in 2006. Notable players competing in qualifying include: , who qualified for the main draw of the and took the first set off of No. 5 seed and 2009 2010 Tallahassee singles runner-up , who is the only US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro in the opening round. This active U.S. man to have advanced to a Grand Slam tournament year, Williams also qualified for and reached the quarterfinals of the semifinal (2005 US Open, where he lost to in five sets). ATP event in Delray Beach, Fla., losing to John Isner. Williams won Ginepri was one of the top Americans in the world in the mid-2000s, three matches to qualify for the 2012 US Open—his Grand Slam winning three ATP singles titles. During his career, Ginepri has reached

*Player field subject to change Tournament Notes

the fourth round or better at all four majors and peaked at No. 15 in Dallas. He also has won four USTA Pro Circuit doubles titles this year, 2006. He has represented the United States in Davis Cup (2004) and including three consecutive titles in March. the Olympics (2008). Ginepri suffered a broken elbow in late 2010, when he fell off his bicycle trying to avoid a squirrel; the injury kept him Teenager , who was America’s top junior to begin 2013, sidelined through the middle of 2011. He won the $10,000 USTA Pro having ascended as high as No. 6 in the world in January. A pupil of John Circuit Futures in Sunrise, Fla., in January 2013 for his most recent McEnroe’s academy in Randalls Island, N.Y., Rubin, 18, reached the singles title. He also qualified for and reached the quarterfinals of quarterfinals at the Junior Championships and has the U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championships in Houston in April 2013. represented the United States in Junior Davis Cup (boys’ 16-and-under Ginepri owns the Olde Towne Athletic Club in Marietta, Ga., with his international team competition). In 2013, Rubin advanced to the third longtime coach, Jerry Baskin. round of the junior French Open and reached the semifinals at the Easter Bowl. On the USTA Pro Circuit in 2013, he advanced to his first final at the Mitchell Krueger, who was the top-ranked American junior boy in 2012, $10,000 Futures in Godfrey, Ill., and reached two additional semifinals. peaking at a career-high No. 5 in the world junior rankings. Krueger advanced to the boys’ singles semifinals at the French Open and Wimbledon in 2012 and turned pro that July. Krueger captured his first pro singles title last year while competing overseas at a clay-court ITF Many ATP World Tour standouts have won titles in Tallahassee. Pro Circuit event in the . He competed primarily in for the first two months of 2014 and, also this year, reached the final of 2006 singles champion Mardy Fish peaked at No. 7 in the world in the $15,000 USTA Pro Circuit event in Bakersfield, Calif. August 2011 during one of the strongest seasons of his career, which included reaching the quarterfinals of Wimbledon and the round of , who in 2011 became the first American since John 16 at the US Open. He also won the 2011 Emirates Airline US Open McEnroe in 1977 to win the boys’ singles title at the French Open. Series event in Atlanta en route to winning his first overall Series crown. Fratangelo had a strong season on the USTA Pro Circuit in 2013, Fish has won six ATP World Tour singles titles (eight doubles titles) winning $10,000 Futures titles in Weston, Fla., and Orange Park, and claimed the silver medal at the Olympics in 2004, in addition to Fla., and reaching two additional Futures finals. He also competed in representing the United States in Davis Cup. qualifying for the US Open. 2009 singles champion John Isner rose to a career-best No. 9 in the , the 2012 NCAA singles runner-up who played for the world in 2012 and has captured eight ATP singles titles, the most University of Kentucky. Quigley is one of the most decorated tennis recent coming earlier this year in Auckland, New Zealand. Isner also has players in Wildcats history, earning five All-America honors, between been a Grand Slam tournament quarterfinalist, reaching the last eight singles and doubles. In 2008, he became the first Kentucky player of the 2011 US Open. Isner has been a consistent force on the U.S. in 34 years to win four consecutive high school state singles titles. Davis Cup team, recording a win over in 2012 during the He captured his first pro title last summer at the $10,000 Futures in United States’ 5-0 sweep of . That was Federer’s first loss to Decatur, Ill., and this year he reached the final of the $15,000 USTA an American on clay since 1999. Isner also won the longest match in Pro Circuit clay-court event in Boynton Beach, Fla. tennis history, at Wimbledon in 2010, battling 11 hours over three days to defeat , 70-68, in the fifth set. , a 2013 graduate of the University of Michigan, where he was a three-time All-American (2011-13) and the Big Ten Athlete of 2007 singles champion Jo-Wilfried Tsonga ranked a career-high the Year in 2012 and 2013. King owns the program record for most No. 5 in the world in February 2012 and has been a mainstay in the combined singles and doubles victories (196), and he ranks third ATP World Tour Top 10. He reached the final of the 2008 Australian all-time on Michigan’s singles wins list with 117. In the pro ranks, Open (less than a year after his title in Tallahassee) and has been a King has captured eight doubles titles on the USTA Pro Circuit and Grand Slam tournament semifinalist four other times. Tsonga also has in . He started the 2014 season strong, qualifying for and won 10 ATP World Tour singles titles and has represented France in advancing to the singles quarterfinals at the $100,000 Challenger in Davis Cup and the Olympics.

*Player field subject to change USTA Pro circuit by the numbers - Men’s

Tallahassee Past WINNERS Singles Doubles Year Winner Runner-Up Year Winner 2013 (USA) Cedrik-Marcel Stebe (GER) 2013 (USA) / (USA) 2012 Tim Smyczek (USA) (CAN) 2012 (GER) / Andreas Siljestrom (SWE) 2011 Donald Young (USA) (USA) 2011 (CAN) / Bobby Reynolds (USA) 2010 (ARG) Robby Ginepri (USA) 2010 (AUS) / (AUS) 2009 John Isner (USA) Donald Young (USA) 2009 (USA) / (USA) 2008 Bobby Reynolds (USA) (USA) 2008 (USA) / Bobby Reynolds (USA) 2007 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) (RSA) 2007 (RSA) / (RSA) 2006 Mardy Fish (USA) (USA) 2006 Rik De Voest (RSA) / (USA) 2005 Brian Vahaly (USA) (USA) 2005 (SWE) / (AUT) 2004 (PHI) Bjorn Rehnquist (SWE) 2004 Matias Boeker (USA) / Noam Okun (ISR) 2003 (USA) Alex Kim (USA) 2003 Cancelled due to rain 2002 Brian Vahaly (USA) Justin Gimelstob (USA) 2002 Levar Harper-Griffith (USA) / (USA) 2001 Ramon Delgado (PAR) Justin Gimelstob (USA) 2001 Matthew Breen (AUS) / Lee Pearson (AUS) 2000 (USA) (USA) 2000 (BAH) / Mark Merklein (BAH) 1999 Bobby Kokavec (CAN) Horst Skoff (AUT) 1999 Rob Givone (USA) / Glenn Weiner (USA) 1998 Cecil Mamiit (PHI) Egberto Caldas (BRA) 1998 Cecil Mamiit (PHI) / Kyle Spenser (GBR) 1997 David Witt (USA) Chris Groer (USA) 1997 Chris Groer (USA) / Ali Hamadeh (LIB) 1996 Sule Ladipo (NGR) Oliver Johl (GER) 1996 Tommy Shimada (JPN) / Ryuso Tsujino (JPN) 1995 Ivan Baron (USA) Andrew Sznajder (CAN) 1995 David Blair (USA) / Mike Chinchiolo (USA) 1994 Ivan Baron (USA) David DiLucia (USA) 1994 Johan Donar (SWE) / Nils Holm (SWE) 1993 Patricio Arnold (ARG) Ty Tucker (USA) 1993 Patricio Arnold (ARG) / Ty Tucker (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. Celebrating its the game—and stay in the game. Kids are learning to play 35th anniversary in 2014, the USTA Pro Circuit provides players with the opportunity to gain professional faster than ever before through the USTA’s youth initiative, ranking points, and it has grown to become the largest developmental tennis circuit in the world, offering which is geared toward getting more kids to participate in nearly $3 million in prize money. Last year, more than 1,000 men and women from more than 70 countries competed in cities nationwide. Mardy Fish, Maria Sharapova, John Isner, Caroline Wozniacki, Sam tennis using modified equipment and courts tailored to a child’s Querrey, Victoria Azarenka and are among today’s top stars who began their careers on size. For more information, visit YouthTennis.com. the USTA Pro Circuit.

More recently, the USTA Pro Circuit helped launch the careers of two young NJTL Americans— and . Former Stanford standout and 2010 Founded in 1969 by , along with Charlie Pasarell NCAA champion Klahn was the 2013 USTA

Joyce Tartar-Rideout and Sheridan Snyder, the USTA/National & Pro Circuit Prize Money Leader with $50,606 Learning (NJTL) network is a nationwide group of more than in earnings, reaching five USTA Pro Circuit singles finals and winning two singles titles: 625 non-profit youth development organizations that provide the $15,000 Futures in Costa Mesa, Calif., free or low-cost tennis, education and life skills programming in March, and the $100,000 Challenger in to more than 350,000 children each year. Celebrating its Aptos, Calif., in August. The two singles 44th anniversary this year, NJTL is one of the USTA’s largest titles were the first USTA Pro Circuit singles community-based offerings.. crowns of his career. Klahn also earned Bradley Klahn a USTA wild card into the 2013 US Open through a wild card challenge incorporating USTA Pro Circuit events. Klahn finished 2013 US OPEN NATIONAL PlayoffS ranked in the Top 100 for the first time in his career after starting the year ranked outside The USTA launched the US Open the Top 250. Rogers was the 2013 women’s National Playoffs in 2010, making USTA Pro Circuit Prize Money Leader with the US Open “open” to anyone $36,308 in earnings, winning three singles titles with prize money of $50,000 or more ($50,000 events in Charlottesville, Va., and Lexington, Ky., and age 14+ and of all skill levels. the $75,000 event in Albuquerque, N.M.). Rogers also earned a USTA wild card into both the French Open Last year, more than 1,000 players and the US Open by winning wild card challenges for the two Grand Slam tournaments utilizing a series competed in 13 Sectional Qualifying of USTA Pro Circuit events. In her debut at the 2013 French Open, Rogers won her first round match. She Tournaments nationwide for a 2013 peaked at No. 116 in the world in October 2013, rising more than 100 spots throughout the year. Both US Open Qualifying Tournament wild Klahn and Rogers train with the USTA Player Development program. card. A mixed doubles element also was held, with the winning team earning a main draw mixed doubles wild card. Mayo Hibi, a PLAYER DEVELOPMENT 17-year-old Japanese player living in Irvine, Calif., won the 2013 US Open National Playoffs women’s title and USTA Pro Circuit The USTA Player Development program identifies and develops the next generation of American champions regular Jeff Dadamo of Tampa, Fla., won the men’s wild card. by surrounding the top junior players and young pros with the resources, facilities and coaching they need Yasmin Schnack and Eric Roberson won mixed doubles. The 13 to reach their maximum potential. The Player Development program is based at the USTA Training Center sectional qualifying tournaments for this year’s US Open National Headquarters in Boca Raton, Fla., and also utilizes Training Centers in Carson, Calif., and Flushing, N.Y., as Playoffs are in May and June, with championships in August. For well as a series of Certified Regional Training Centers located throughout the continental United States. more information, visit www.usopen.org/NationalPlayoffs.