TOURNAMENT NOTES as of June 25, 2014 PNC MEN’S FUTURES OF PITTSBURGH PITTSBURGH, PA • JUNE 28 – JULY 6 USTA PRO CIRCUIT COMES TO PITTSBURGH TOURNAMENT INFORMATION The PNC Men’s Futures of Pittsburgh returns for the 14th consecutive year. It is the only Site: Mount Lebanon Tennis Center – Pittsburgh, Pa. men’s USTA Pro Circuit event held in the state of Pennsylvania; Landisville holds a Websites: www.mtlebanontennis.com women’s tournament in early August. This is Bill Kallenberg procircuit.usta.com the last of three consecutive $10,000 USTA Pro Circuit clay-court Futures, as part of the Facebook: PNC Men’s Futures of Pittsburgh USTA Pro Circuit spring clay-court season. In conjunction with USTA Player Development, Qualifying Draw Begins: Saturday, June 28 the USTA Pro Circuit continues to emphasize the importance of increased training for Main Draw Begins: Tuesday, July 1 younger players on clay. Main Draw: 32 Singles / 16 Doubles Notable players competing in Pittsburgh include: Surface: Clay / Outdoor Jean-Yves Aubone, who won a season-high Prize Money: $10,000 four USTA Pro Circuit Futures doubles titles in 2013 and who has also captured three Tournament Director: doubles titles this year. Aubone also won two Hank Hughes, (412) 343-3411 singles titles in 2008. He played collegiately [email protected] for Florida State University, where he was the first player in the school’s history to Tournament Press Contact: Danny Zemel, (412) 720-0404 earn All-America singles honors twice. As a [email protected] junior player, he represented the U.S. in the Jean-Yves Aubone won a season-high four 16-and-under Junior Davis Cup competition USTA Pro Circuit Futures doubles titles in USTA Public Relations Contact: and also reached the singles semifinals of 2013, and has added two more this year. Amanda Korba, (914) 697-2219 the 2004 USTA Boys’ 18s National Clay [email protected] Court Championships. Mitchell Frank, who recently completed his junior year at the University of Virginia. Last PRIZE MONEY / POINTS year, he won the deciding match in the 2013 SINGLES: Prize Money Ranking Points NCAA team championship, giving Virginia Winner $1,440 17 its first NCAA men’s team title. This year, David Kenas Runner-up $848 9 Frank received All-ACC first team honors Semifinalist $502 5 for the third time in his career. He also Quarterfinalist $292 2 won the ITA All-American Championships Round of 16 $172 1 in October 2013 and was the No. 4 seed Round of 32 $104 - in the 2014 NCAA championships. As a freshman, Frank was the Intercollegiate DOUBLES: Prize Money (per team) Tennis Association’s No. 1-ranked singles Winner $620 player for eight rankings periods and was Runner-up $360 named the National Freshman of the Year Semifinalist $216 before missing the fall 2012 season with an Quarterfinalist $128 injury. Prior to college, Frank was a Top 5 Round of 16 $0 world-ranked junior. 2010 Pittsburgh singles champion Adam El Mihdawy, the top-ranked American in Mitchell Frank recently completed his junior year at the University of Virginia. In 2013, Frank won the deciding match in the NCAA team championship, giving the Cavaliers their first NCAA men’s tennis team title. *Player field subject to change TOURNAMENT NOTES Pittsburgh, who is playing in his second USTA Pro Circuit event since 2011 singles champion Brian Baker has reached the second round 2012 after competing internationally in Turkey, Germany, Austria, or better at all four Grand Slam events, including the round of 16 Mexico and South America over the past two years. El Mihdawy has at Wimbledon in 2012, when he climbed to No. 52 in the world won six USTA Pro Circuit- and ITF-level singles events from 2010 to rankings. Baker’s career has been interrupted by a series of injuries 2014, capturing an event in Mexico this year. He has also won 11 – his five surgeries for a series of ailments from 2005-08 include doubles titles all over the world. He broke into the Top 300 in the Tommy John elbow ligament replacement surgery in February 2008. world rankings in July 2012. The six-time USTA Pro Circuit singles champion has played in only three events, none in 2014, since suffering a severe knee injury at Defending doubles champion Connor Smith, who graduated from the 2013 Australian Open. Ohio State University last year after competing for the Buckeyes. Smith has had a strong year on the USTA Pro Circuit, turning Pittsburgh native and 2011 singles runner-up Bjorn Fratangelo, who professional in March and winning his first pro singles title at the in 2011 became the first American since John McEnroe in 1977 $10,000 Futures in Vero Beach, Fla., in May. He also won his third to win the boys’ singles title at the French Open. Fratangelo had and fourth career USTA Pro Circuit doubles titles and has advanced a strong season in 2013, winning the USTA Pro Circuit Futures in to two additional doubles finals. Weston, Fla., and competing in qualifying for the US Open. This year, Fratangelo won his second career USTA Pro Circuit singles title at the 2013 Pittsburgh singles runner-up and 2012 doubles champion $10,000 Futures in Tampa, Fla. Jason Tahir, who recently completed his junior year at Duke, where he holds an 80-23 overall record in singles. Tahir entered the 2013-14 2007 singles champion and 2010 singles runner-up and doubles season with the second-best career singles winning percentage (.812) champion Rhyne Williams, a former NCAA finalist at the University in program history. Tahir holds one USTA Pro Circuit doubles title, of Tennessee, qualified for the main draw of the 2014 Australian at the $10,000 Futures in Pittsburgh in 2012 with Duke teammate Open and took the first set off of 2009 US Open champion and No. Martin Redlicki. 5 seed Juan Martin del Potro in the opening round. This year, he also qualified for and reached the quarterfinals of the ATP event in Daniel Nguyen, who was a former standout college player for USC. Delray Beach, Fla., losing to John Isner. Williams won three matches Nguyen won two consecutive ITF Futures singles titles in Seoul in to qualify for the main draw of the 2012 US Open for his first 2013, bringing his total count to three pro titles. He also competed Grand Slam appearance and, in the process, became one of just 13 in the main draw of the men’s doubles event at the US Open in qualifying wild cards to reach the main draw in US Open recorded 2009, where he reached the second round. Nguyen is competing in history. In addition, Williams earned a wild card into the 2013 his third USTA Pro Circuit event since March after playing overseas Australian Open main draw by winning the USTA Australian Open in China and Korea. He also reached the final of an ITF-level event in Wild Card Playoffs, and he qualified for the 2013 French Open. Also Mexico in late May. last year, he reached the semifinals at the ATP clay-court event in Houston for his best ATP result. Jeremy Efferding, who is competing in his second USTA Pro Circuit event of the year. Efferding recently completed his junior season at Defending doubles champion Marcos Giron won the 2014 NCAA Texas A&M, where he has received All-SEC first-team honors. singles title as a junior at UCLA and finished the year as the No. 1 college tennis player. Giron won his first two professional singles titles at USTA Pro Circuit events in his native California last September to improve his pro ranking by 600 spots in the span of one month. He Many current ATP standouts have found success in Pittsburgh. peaked at No. 445 in the world this spring after he winning the USTA Pro Circuit Futures title in Calabasas, Calif. *Player field subject to change PITTSBURGH PAST WINNERS Singles Doubles Year Winner Runner-Up Year Winner 2013 Michael Shabaz (USA) Jason Tahir (USA) 2013 Marcos Giron (USA) – Connor Smith (USA) 2012 Alex Bogdanovic (GBR) Matheson Klein (AUS) 2012 Michael Redlicki (USA) – Jason Tahir (USA) 2011 Brian Baker (USA) Bjorn Fratangelo (USA) 2011 Haydn Lewis (BAR) – Dennis Zivkovic (USA) 2010 Adam El Mihdawy (USA) Rhyne Williams (USA) 2010 Tennys Sandgren (USA) – Rhyne Williams (USA) 2009 Dennis Zivkovic (USA) Blake Strode (USA) 2009 Haydn Lewis (BAR) – Dennis Zivkovic (USA) 2008 Somdev Devvarman (IND) Travis Helgeson (USA) 2008 Somdev Devvarman (IND) – Treat Huey (PHI) 2007 Rhyne Williams (USA) Travis Helgeson (USA) 2007 Carsten Ball (AUS) – Scott Doerner (AUS) 2006 Victor Estrella (DOM) Matej Bocko (SVK) 2006 Shannon Nettle (AUS) – Daniel Wendler (AUS) 2005 Catalin Gard (ROM) Michael Quintero (COL) 2005 Robert Smeets (AUS) – Daniel Wendler (AUS) 2004 Michael Russell (USA) Kean Feeder (USA) 2004 Tres Davis (USA) – Ryan Sachire (USA) 2003 Michael Quintero (COL) Justin Bower (RSA) 2003 Justin Bower (RSA) – Shaun Rudman (RSA) 2002 Luciano Vitullo (ARG) Matias Boeker (USA) 2002 Andrew Colombo (USA) – Tamer El Sawy (EGY) 2001 Jaymon Crabb (AUS) Brian Vahaly (USA) 2001 Andrew Colombo (USA) – Bo Hodge (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.