TOURNAMENT NOTES as of February 12, 2015 SURPRISE TENNIS CLASSIC SURPRISE, AZ • FEBRUARY 15-22 USTA PRO CIRCUIT WOMEN’S TENNIS RETURNS TO SURPRISE TOURNAMENT INFORMATION The Surprise Tennis Classic returns to the Tennis & Racquet Complex for the eighth Site: Surprise Tennis & Racquet Complex consecutive year. It is the first of two Surprise, Ariz. consecutive $25,000 USTA Pro Circuit hard- court tournaments, preceding Rancho Santa Websites: www.surpriseaz.gov/tennis Fe, Calif., which is held next week. Photography Vomund procircuit.usta.com To follow the tournament, download the USTA Qualifying Draw Begins: Sunday, Feb. 15 Pro Circuit’s new phone app by searching “procircuit” in the app store. Main Draw Begins: Tuesday, Feb. 17 Notable players competing in the main draw Main Draw: 32 Singles / 16 Doubles include: Surface: Hard / Outdoor 2013 Surprise doubles champion Sachia Prize Money: $25,000 Vickery, who is off to a scintillating start to her 2015 campaign with titles at the Tournament Director: $25,000 events in Daytona Beach, Fla., and Guillermo Lucero, (915) 241-2212 Sunrise, Fla., in January. The two titles are [email protected] also the first two professional singles crowns of the 19-year-old’s career. In addition, she Tournament Press Contact: reached the doubles final at the $100,000 Guillermo Lucero, (915) 241-2212 event in Midland, Mich., earlier in February. Sachia Vickery competed in the main draw of [email protected] Vickery is already a veteran of the US Open the 2013 US Open and the 2014 Australian and the Australian Open in her young career. Open, winning her first-round match in New USTA Communications Contact: She earned a main draw wild card into the York. She has won two USTA Pro Circuit singles Amanda Korba, (914) 697-2219 2014 Australian Open by winning the USTA’s titles already in 2015. [email protected] Australian Open Wild Card Playoff against other up-and-coming Americans. Also in US Open, French Open and Wimbledon, and 2014, she competed in qualifying for the PRIZE MONEY / POINTS she reached the quarterfinals of the Emirates Airline US Open Series event in Stanford, SINGLES: Prize Money Ranking Points Calif.—her career-best WTA result. In 2013, Winner $3,919 50 Vickery won the USTA National Girls’ 18s Runner-Up $2,091 30 Tim Hartis Tim singles and doubles titles, earning wild Semifinalist $1,114 18 cards into the main draws of the women’s Quarterfinalist $654 9 singles and doubles at the 2013 US Open. Round 16 $392 8 At the Open, she won her first-round match Round 32 $228 1 in her Grand Slam debut, defeating Mirjana Lucic-Baroni in straight sets. Overall, Vickery DOUBLES: Prize Money (per team) climbed 150 spots in the rankings in 2013 Winner $1,437 on the strength of her US Open win, in Runner-Up $719 addition to reaching the semifinals of two Semifinalist $359 USTA Pro Circuit events, to end the year Quarterfinalist $196 ranked in the Top 200 for the first time. As Round 16 $131 a junior, she ascended to No. 6 in the ITF World Junior Rankings, reaching the doubles semifinals of junior Wimbledon in 2012 and Fifteen-year-old Catherine “CiCi” Bellis made world headlines at the 2014 US Open with her first-round upset of No. 12 seed Dominika Cibulkova. With the victory, the 2014 year-end junior No. 1 became the youngest player to win a main draw match at the US Open since 1996. *Player field subject to change TOURNAMENT NOTES competing in all four junior Grand Slam tournaments. Vickery trains Asia Muhammad, who learned to play tennis at the Andre Agassi Boys with the USTA Player Development program at the USTA Training and Girls Club in Las Vegas. In 2013, she won two USTA Pro Circuit Center Headquarters in Boca Raton, Fla. doubles titles and captured her first singles title since 2007 at the $25,000 event in Raleigh, N.C. And in 2014, she won back-to-back Fifteen-year-old Catherine “CiCi” Bellis, who made international doubles titles at the $50,000 USTA Pro Circuit events in Charlottesville, headlines at the 2014 US Open with her first-round upset of Va., and Indian Harbour Beach, Fla. She also won the US Open No. 12 seed and reigning Australian Open finalist Dominika National Playoffs USTA Missouri Valley Sectional Qualifying Tournament Cibulkova. With the victory, Bellis became the youngest player to last summer. Overall, Muhammad holds 13 USTA Pro Circuit titles (11 win a main draw match at the US Open since Anna Kournikova in doubles, which includes a title in Plantation, Fla., this year). in 1996. Bellis earned a wild card into the US Open women’s singles main draw as the USTA Girls’ 18s national champion; Caitlin Whoriskey, a former University of Tennessee standout who was she was the youngest USTA Girls’ 18s national champion since named the 2010 College Senior Player of the Year after leading the Lindsay Davenport in 1991. In the junior ranks, Bellis clinched Volunteers to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament. Whoriskey the International Tennis Federation’s year-end No. 1 world ranking captured her first USTA Pro Circuit singles title last May at the in December 2014, becoming the second American girl in the $10,000 event in Hilton Head Island, S.C., where she also won last three years to earn the ITF’s year-end top junior ranking for the doubles crown. This year, she reached the singles quarterfinals players ages 18 and under (joining Taylor Townsend, 2012). and doubles semifinals at the $100,000 USTA Pro Circuit event in Also in December, Bellis reached the singles semifinals and won Midland, Mich. Overall, Whoriskey has captured seven USTA Pro the doubles title at the Metropolia Orange Bowl International Circuit and ITF Circuit doubles titles throughout the world. She also Championships—one of the world’s most prestigious junior tennis won the 2014 US Open National Playoffs to earn a wild card into tournaments—in Plantation, Fla. In addition, she led the United US Open qualifying, where she won her first-round match. States to the 2014 Junior Fed Cup title in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, helping the American squad win the 16-and-under world team title Bernarda Pera, who won five ITF Circuit singles titles and three for the third time in seven years (2008, 2012, 2014). doubles titles in 2013 and 2014. Pera made her WTA tour debut at the 2014 US Open, having received a wild card with American 2012 Surprise doubles champion Maria Sanchez, who peaked at Tornado Alicia Black in the women’s doubles event. Pera also No. 107 in the world in July 2013 behind strong results on the USTA competed in the junior US Open in 2012. Pera was born in Croatia Pro Circuit and the WTA tour. She started that year by reaching the but plays for the United States. quarterfinals of the $100,000 USTA Pro Circuit event in Midland, Mich., and competing in three WTA events. Also in 2013, Sanchez Lauren Embree, who completed her outstanding college career in made her debut in a Grand Slam tournament main draw after earning 2013 at the University of Florida by being named the National College a wild card into the US Open. In 2014, she won her first WTA doubles Player of the Year. Embree went 26-3 in her final year for the Gators at title, in Auckland, New Zealand, alongside Sharon Fichman. Sanchez the No. 1 singles spot, and she compiled a staggering 117-16 singles has won two USTA Pro Circuit singles crowns, both in 2012, and record during her four years in Gainesville. As a pro in 2013, she won seven USTA Pro Circuit doubles titles. As a junior player, she was her second USTA Pro Circuit singles title at the $10,000 event in Fort ranked No. 1 in the U.S. as a 16-year-old and No. 4 in the country as Worth, Texas, and reached the second round at the $50,000 event an 18-year-old. She also was the No. 1-ranked collegian and an ITA in Lexington, Ky. Embree won her second career doubles title at the All-American at USC, winning the 2011 USTA/ITA National Indoor $25,000 USTA Pro Circuit event in Redding, Calif., last September. Intercollegiate Championship singles title. In 2009, she won a USTA wild-card playoff to earn a berth into the main draw of the French Open, where she lost in the opening round to Sanaz Marand, who played for the University of North Carolina, where former world No. 3 Nadia Petrova. she received All-America honors and, in 2010, helped lead the Tar Heels to their first NCAA team semifinals. In 2013, she won her first Players competing in qualifying include: USTA Pro Circuit singles title, at the $25,000 event in El Paso, Texas. Marand also has won eight USTA Pro Circuit doubles titles, including Danielle Lao, who graduated from USC in 2013 and earned two All- the $25,000 event in Daytona Beach, Fla., earlier this year. She America honors during her college career. She also led the Trojans to competed in Europe last spring, winning one ITF Circuit doubles title back-to-back Pac-12 team championships and was a team captain her in Italy and advancing to an additional final in Switzerland. As a junior senior year. After college, Lao wrote a book, Invaluable Experience, player, Marand reached the doubles final at the 2006 Easter Bowl about playing college tennis. She won the first USTA Pro Circuit title with Ashley Weinhold.