Tournament Notes
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TOURNAMENT NOTES as of January 28, 2016 RBC TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS OF DALLAS DALLAS, TX • JANUARY 30 – FEBRUARY 6 USTA PRO CIRCUIT RETURNS TO DALLAS TOURNAMENT INFORMATION The RBC Tennis Championships of Dallas brings the USTA Pro Circuit to Dallas for the Site: T Bar M Racquet Club – Dallas, Texas 16th consecutive year and 19th year overall. (The event was not held in 2000.) This Websites: www.tennischampinoshipsofdallas.com marks the fifth year the event has offered Dishman USTA/Ned procircuit.usta.com $100,000 in prize money, up from $50,000 Facebook: Tennis Championships of Dallas in 2011. It is the only USTA Pro Circuit Twitter: @RBCTennisChamps Challenger hosted in Texas. Qualifying Draw Begins: Saturday, Jan. 30 This tournament will be streamed live on Main Draw Begins: Monday, Feb. 1 www.procircuit.usta.com. To follow the tournament, download the USTA Pro Main Draw: 32 Singles / 16 Doubles Circuit’s new phone app for smartphones Surface: Hard / Indoor and tablets by searching “procircuit” in the Prize Money: $100,000 Apple and Google Play stores. Tournament Director: Notable players competing in Dallas include: Darren Boyd, (972) 385-3613, [email protected] Tournament Manager: Dallas defending singles champion Tim Chris Wade, (972) 385-3632, [email protected] Smyczek, who peaked at No. 68 in the world in April 2015 after qualifying for the main Tournament Press Contact: draw of the Australian Open and winning Dallas defending singles champion Tim Smyczek Krista Maldonado, (972) 385-3609 his first-round match. In the second round, peaked at No. 68 in the world in April 2015. [email protected] he became a top storyline after facing He has competed in all four Grand Slam events, reaching the third round of the 2013 US Open. USTA Communications Contact: Rafael Nadal and almost pulling off an Amanda Korba, (914) 697-2219, [email protected] upset, falling to the Spaniard in a five-set thriller, 6-2, 3-6, 6-7 (2), 6-3, 7-5. During the $100,000 Challenger in Tiburon, Calif. PRIZE MONEY / POINTS the match, Smyczek was heralded for his Smyczek has played in all four Grand Slam sportsmanship after giving Nadal a first SINGLES: Prize Money Ranking Points tournaments in his career, advancing to serve when a fan yelled out during Nadal’s Winner $14,400 100 the second round or better at the US Open service toss in the final game of the fifth set. Runner-up $8,480 60 each year from 2012 to 2014, highlighted Following the Australian Open, Smyczek won Semifinalist $5,020 35 by a third-round showing in 2013. He Dallas for his fifth USTA Pro Circuit singles Quarterfinalist $2,920 18 won his first-round match at this year’s title, and in October, he won his sixth title at Round of 16 $1,720 8 Australian Open. Smyczek regularly trains Round of 32 $1,040 0 at Saddlebrook Resort in Tampa, Fla., and DOUBLES: Prize Money (per team) once lived with fellow American Mardy Fish Winner $6,200 for a year while training there. Runner-up $3,600 Semifinalist $2,160 Ong USTA/Andrew Denis Kudla, who earned a wild card into Quarterfinalist $1,280 Wimbledon in 2015 and reached the Round of 16 $720 fourth round for his career-best Grand Slam result. Kudla played well in back-to-back COMMUNITY EVENTS grass-court Challenger events leading up Saturday, Jan. 30 to Wimbledon last year, winning the title in DTA City Junior Clinic, 4:00 p.m.-6:00 p.m. Ilkey and reaching the final in Surbiton. In summer 2015, he reached the semifinals Sunday, Jan. 31 Pro-Ams, all day Thursday, Feb. 4 Denis Kudla earned a wild card into Wimbledon in 2015 and reached the fourth round, his Junior Deaf Clinic, 11:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. career-best Grand Slam result. He climbed to No. 65 in the world in October 2015. Friday, Feb. 5 Estrada Hinojosa Latino Children’s Clinic, 11:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. *Player field subject to change *Adult Clinics also taking place Monday thru Friday TOURNAMENT NOTES of the Emirates Airline US Open Series event in Atlanta (his best Open for his sixth appearance in the Australian Open main draw. ATP result) and qualified for Cincinnati and Montreal. He also Harrison earned a spot on the U.S. Olympic team for the 2012 reached the final of the $100,000 USTA Pro Circuit Challenger in Games in London and has been a member of the U.S. Davis Cup Tiburon, Calif., and the semifinals of the $100,000 Challenger in team. He also has enjoyed success on the ATP World Tour, reaching Sacramento last year to peak at No. 65 in the world in November. three semifinals in 2012 to peak at No. 43 in the world. In 2015, This year, he won his first-round match at the Australian Open. Harrison played in the US Open as a wild card and competed in Kudla broke into the Top 100 for the first time in 2013 after qualifying at Wimbledon. Also in 2015, he reached the second round advancing to the second round of Wimbledon—his first Grand Slam at the Memphis Open as a qualifier, pushing eventual champion Kei win. Also in 2013, he qualified for the French Open, reached the Nishikori to three sets, and qualified and reached the semifinals in second round of the US Open and advanced to the quarterfinals of Acapulco before falling to David Ferrer. In 2013, Harrison reached the ATP’s Wimbledon warm-up event at Queens Club. In 2014, he the semifinals of the Emirates Airline US Open Series event in qualified for the Australian Open and won his opening-round match Atlanta, advanced to the quarterfinals of the Australian Open tune- at Wimbledon (before losing to Kei Nishikori in the second round). up event in Sydney and reached the second round of the Australian Kudla holds six USTA Pro Circuit singles titles and four doubles Open and the French Open. Harrison has played in the US Open titles. He was ranked No. 3 in the world junior rankings and reached main draw each of the last six years; in 2010, he qualified and upset the boys’ singles final at the 2010 US Open, where he lost to Jack No. 15 seed Ivan Ljubicic in the opening round, and in 2012, he Sock in three sets. Kudla was born in the Ukraine and came to the also advanced to the second round, losing to 2009 champion Juan U.S. with his parents on his first birthday. Martin del Potro. Frances Tiafoe, one of the top young players in the world. After Bjorn Fratangelo, who qualified for the main draw of the 2016 peaking at No. 2 in the ITF World Junior Rankings in 2014, Tiafoe Australian Open for his first appearance in a Grand Slam main turned pro in early 2015 and began transitioning to professional draw outside the US Open. Fratangelo made his Grand Slam events. He won the Har-Tru USTA Pro Circuit Wild Card Challenge to main-draw debut at the 2015 US Open after winning the USTA earn a spot in the 2015 French Open, his Grand Slam debut, and Pro Circuit’s US Open Wild Card Challenge last summer. In the he competed as a wild card at the 2015 US Open by winning the challenge, Fratangelo reached the final of the $50,000 Challenger USTA Boys’ 18s National Championships in Kalamazoo, Mich. Also in Binghamton, N.Y., and semifinals at the $100,000 Challenger last year, Tiafoe won his first USTA Pro Circuit singles title last year, in Aptos, Calif., and the $50,000 Challenger in Lexington, Ky. at the $15,000 Futures in Bakersfield, Calif., and advanced to three In addition to his results during the 2015 US Open Wild Card additional USTA Pro Circuit singles finals in 2015 (Tallahassee, Fla., Challenge, Fratangelo reached a final and a semifinal at ITF-level in May; Calabasas, Calif., in March; Weston, Fla., in January). In Challengers in Italy last spring. Those results helped propel him to addition, he served as a practice partner for the U.S. Davis Cup team a career-high No. 106 in the world in August. Overall, Fratangelo against Great Britain in Scotland in March 2015. In January 2016, has won nine USTA Pro Circuit and ITF-level singles titles over the he competed in Australian Open qualifying for the first time this last three years. As a junior player, Fratangelo—named after 11-time year. As a junior, he reached the boys’ singles semifinals at the 2014 Grand Slam champion Bjorn Borg—ranked as high as No. 2 in the US Open and won the prestigious Orange Bowl International Tennis ITF World Junior Rankings and competed on the Junior Davis Cup Championships in December 2013, becoming the youngest boys’ team. In 2011, he became the first American since John McEnroe champion in the 67-year history of the event. Tiafoe is a product of in 1977 to win the French Open boys’ singles title. He is coached by the Junior Tennis Champions Center in College Park, Md., a USTA USTA National Coach Stanford Boster. Certified Regional Training Center, where his father, an immigrant from Sierra Leone, worked as a custodian. He now trains with the Dennis Novikov, who represented the U.S. at the 2015 Pan USTA; Jose Higueras and Nicolas Todero serve as his coaches. American Games in Toronto this past summer, where he won the bronze medal in men’s singles.