TournamenT noTes as of July 13, 2011 FIFTH THIRD BANK TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS LEXINGTON, KY • JULY 16–24 USTA PRO CIRCUIT MEN’S CHALLENGER RETURNS TO LEXINGTON TournamenT InFormaTIon The Fifth Third Bank Tennis Championships is taking place in Lexington for the 14th Site: University of Kentucky – straight year. It is held in conjunction with USTA Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex – Lexington, Ky. a $50,000 USTA Pro Circuit women’s event this week. Lexington is one of three Websites: www.lexingtonchallenger.com combined men’s and women’s events on the procircuit.usta.com calendar this year (joining Vancouver and Facebook: Fifth Third Bank Tennis Championships Plantation, Fla.). It is the only USTA Pro Circuit event to take place in Kentucky. Twitter: @53Tennis Qualifying draw begins: Saturday, July 16 On Tuesday, July 19, the tournament will host a National Junior Tennis and Learning Main draw begins: Monday, July 18 (NJTL) network day in which local children Main Draw: 32 Singles / 16 Doubles will participate. The NJTL network is a nationwide group of more than 600 nonprofit Surface: Hard / Outdoor youth development organizations that Prize Money: $50,000 provide free or low-cost tennis, education and life skills programming to more Tournament Director: than 250,000 children each year. NJTL Sam Dunn, (859) 619-4480 develops the character of young people by [email protected] Last year’s Lexington singles runner-up emphasizing the ideals and life of Jesse Levine advanced to the third round of Tournament Press Contact: co-founder Arthur Ashe. While NJTLs vary in Wimbledon and the second round of the size and programming, this growing network Jim Durham, (859) 806-6104 US Open in 2009. shares a commitment to positive youth [email protected] development, the importance of education, USTA Communications Contacts: and tennis as a lifetime sport. 2010 after winning his first career USTA Amanda Korba, (914) 697-2219, [email protected] Pro Circuit $50,000 Challenger singles title Eric Schuster, (914) 696-7260, [email protected] Players expected in the main draw in here, one year after advancing to his first Lexington include: last year’s singles ATP World Tour singles final at the 2009 PrIze money / PoInTs champion, Carsten Ball of Australia, who LA Tennis Open, an Olympus US Open SINGLES: Prize Money Ranking Points peaked at a career-high No. 108 in July Series event, where he lost to Sam Querrey Winner $7,200 80 in the final; 2003 NCAA singles champion Runner-up $4,240 48 for the University of Illinois and 2003 Semifinalist $2,510 29 Lexington singles runner-up and 2004 USTA Quarterfinalist $1,460 15 doubles champion Amer Delic, who is Round of 16 $860 7 working to regain his form following a knee Round of 32 $520 – injury that forced him out of action from July 2009 to August 2010, having climbed to DOUBLES: Prize Money (per team) No. 60 in the world in 2007 and, in 2009, Winner $3,100 reached the third round of the Australian Runner-up $1,800 Open; and last year’s singles runner-up Semifinalist $1,080 and former University of Florida star Jesse Quarterfinalist $640 Levine, who advanced to the third round Round of 16 $360 of Wimbledon and the second round of the CommunITy eVenTs US Open in 2009, and won the singles title at the $10,000 Futures in Indian Harbour Monday, July 18 Beach, Fla., last month. Pro-Am, 6 p.m. Tuesday, July 19 2007 Lexington singles champion John Isner NJTL Kids’ Day, 2-5 p.m. won his second career ATP title at the Campbell’s Exhibition Match, 6:15 p.m. Hall of Fame Tennis Championships in Newport, R.I., two weeks ago. Thursday, July 21 Ladies Night TournamenT noTes Also expected in the main draw include: former world No. 77 Wayne University of Mississippi, and who reached the boys’ singles final at Odesnik, who has returned to competition following a year-long the 2008 US Open. suspension as dictated by the Tennis Anti-Doping Program, which is administered by the International Tennis Federation, and who Also expected in qualifying are: Olivier Sajous of Haiti, whose family reached the third round at the 2008 French Open, was a finalist was displaced during the 2010 earthquake, and who won the at the ATP World Tour event in Houston in 2009, and who won the US Open National Playoffs Florida Sectional Qualifying Tournament $50,000 Savannah Challenger on the USTA Pro Circuit earlier this last year, in addition to his first USTA Pro Circuit singles title in his year; four-time University of Florida All-American Gregory Ouellette, adopted hometown of Plantation, Fla., this year; Jordan Cox, who, in who has reached the quarterfinals or better of four USTA Pro Circuit 2009, reached the boys’ singles final at Wimbledon and, in 2010, Futures this year; and 2003 singles champion Frank Dancevic of won his first professional title at a $15,000 event in South Korea; Canada, who plays for Canada’s Davis Cup team and peaked at a Phillip Simmonds, who won a USTA Pro Circuit Futures title on clay career-high No. 65 in the world in 2007 after advancing to the in Weston, Fla., in January; and Michael McClune, who is on the final of the Olympus US Open Series event in Indianapolis. He has comeback trail from a hip injury that kept him out of action for most reached one additional ATP final and qualified for all three Grand of last year, and who won the USTA Boys’ 18s singles crown to earn Slam events this year. a wild card into the main draw of the US Open in 2007. Those players receiving main draw wild cards include: 18-year-old Many current ATP World Tour stars have found success in Lexington. Jack Sock, who won the 2010 US Open boys’ singles title to become 2007 singles champion John Isner won his second career ATP World the first American to win the event since Andy Roddick in 2000, and Tour singles title at the grass-court event in Newport, R.I., two weeks who also won the USTA Boys’ 18s National Championships to earn ago. (He also won a title in Auckland, New Zealand, in 2010). In a wild card into the 2010 US Open men’s singles main draw, his 2009, Isner upset Andy Roddick en route to the fourth round of the first appearance in a Grand Slam main draw; andRhyne Williams, US Open, and last year he reached the fourth round of the Australian who competes for the University of Tennessee and reached the 2011 Open and was named to the U.S. Davis Cup team. He also won the NCAA singles final, and who won the $10,000 Futures in Innisbrook, longest match in tennis history at Wimbledon in 2010, battling for Fla., in June. 11 hours over three days to defeat Nicolas Mahut, 70-68, in the fifth set. Lleyton Hewitt, the 1998 Lexington doubles champion, went Those competing in qualifying include: Michael Yani, who reached on to become the No. 1 player in the world in 2001 after winning the semifinals of the ATP World Tour grass-court event in Newport, the US Open that year. Hewitt also captured the Wimbledon title R.I., two weeks ago, a career-best result and his first ATP event of in 2002 and has won a total of 28 ATP World Tour singles titles. the year; Blake Strode, the winner of the 2010 US Open National 2008 Lexington singles champion and former University of Virginia Playoffs and former University of Arkansas standout, who deferred standout Somdev Devvarman of India, rose to a career-high No. 66 Harvard Law School to go pro and won his second career USTA in May after reaching the round of 16 at the ATP Masters Series Pro Circuit title this year at the $10,000 Futures in Tampa, Fla.; event in Indian Wells, Calif., and the third round of the Masters University of Virginia standout Alexander Domijan, who was named event in Miami the following week. 2007 doubles champion Ryan the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s Rookie of the Year in 2011; Sweeting soared to a career-high ranking No. 65 in May 2011 after Daniel Kosakowski, who won his first professional title at the Futures winning his first ATP World Tour singles title at the U.S. Men’s Clay event in Sacramento, Calif., this year after finishing his freshman Court Championships in Houston. He also qualified and advanced year at UCLA and then used the occasion to turn pro; and 2009 to the second round of the 2011 Australian Open and has qualified NCAA singles champion Devin Britton, who became the youngest for four additional ATP events this year, including the Masters Series man ever to win the NCAA singles title as a freshman at the event in Indian Wells, Calif., where he reached the third round. LEXINGTON PAST WINNERS Singles Doubles Year Winner Runner-Up Year Winner 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 90-plus tournaments hosted annually throughout the country and prize money ranging from $10,000 10 and Under Tennis is a nationwide USTA initiative that to $100,000, the USTA Pro Circuit is the pathway to the US Open and tour-level competition for aspiring uses the QuickStart Tennis play format and takes a better tennis players and a frequent battleground for established professionals.