TournamenT noTes as of June 26, 2013 NIELSEN PRO TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIP WINNETKA, IL • JUNE 29-JULY 6 USTA PRO CIRCUIT MEN’S CHALLENGER RETURNS TO WINNETKA TournamenT InFormaTIon The Nielsen Pro Tennis Championship returns to Winnetka for the eighth consecutive year Site: A.C. Nielsen Tennis Center – Winnetka, Ill. and the 22nd year overall. It is the sixth Challenger on the 2013 USTA Pro Circuit BoMonKwon Websites: www.nielsenprotennis.com calendar and is one of five USTA Pro Circuit procircuit.usta.com men’s events held in Illinois. (Champaign Facebook: Nielsen Pro Tennis hosts a $50,000 Challenger in November, and three $10,000 Futures are held later Twitter: @NielsenPro this summer.) It is also the first hard-court Qualifying Draw Begins: Saturday, June 29 Challenger of the summer season. Main Draw Begins: Monday, July 1 This tournament will be streamed live on Main Draw: 32 Singles / 16 Doubles procircuit.usta.com. Surface: Hard / Outdoor Players competing in the main draw in Prize Money: $50,000 Winnetka are: Tournament Director: Steve Johnson, who in 2012 cemented his Linda Goodman, (312) 505-7969 place as one of the best college players of all [email protected] time, going undefeated to claim his second Tournament Press Contact: straight NCAA singles title and leading USC Steve Johnson, one of the best college tennis Alexandra Maestre, (847) 757-1235 to its fourth team title in his four years at players of all time while at USC, reached [email protected] the school. He turned professional shortly the third round of the 2012 US Open, earned thereafter. Johnson received a wild card a wild card into this year’s Wimbledon USTA Communications Contact: into Wimbledon this year, becoming the Championships and qualified for the 2013 Amanda Korba, (914) 697-2219, [email protected] first American man since 2008 to receive French Open. a wild card into the main draw of The PrIze money / PoInTs Championships, after he won the grass-court qualified for the 2013 French Open. Johnson SINGLES: Prize Money Ranking Points ATP Challenger in Nottingham, England, just entered Wimbledon ranked in the Top 100 for Winner $7,200 80 before Wimbledon. Also as a pro, Johnson the first time in his career. Runner-up $4,240 48 reached the third round of the 2012 US Open, Semifinalist $2,510 29 becoming the first reigning NCAA champion to Denis Kudla, who won his first-round match Quarterfinalist $1,460 15 advance to the third round of the men’s singles at Wimbledon this year as a qualifier, having Round of 16 $860 7 event since Sargis Sargsian in 1995. He also previously reached the quarterfinals of the ATP Round of 32 $520 - captured the $100,000 USTA Pro Circuit World Tour event at Queens Club leading into DOUBLES: Prize Money (per team) event in Aptos, Calif., in 2012 and reached Wimbledon—his best ATP result this season. Winner $3,100 the semifinals of two additional Challengers. Also prior to Wimbledon, Kudla made his Runner-up $1,800 Johnson qualified for the 2013 Australian French Open debut as a qualifier. He qualified Semifinalist $1,080 Open and lost in five sets in the first round for the 2012 Australian Open to make his Quarterfinalist $640 to No. 10 seed Nicolas Almagro. In addition, Grand Slam tournament main-draw debut. Round of 16 $360 Johnson reached the quarterfinals of the ATP Earlier this year, Kudla won the $50,000 USTA event in San Jose, Calif., in February and Pro Circuit Challenger in Tallahassee, Fla., for CommunITy eVenTs his fifth USTA Pro Circuit singles title and third Sunday, June 30 Challenger title. Kudla competed in the 2012 Pro-Am, 3:30 p.m. US Open as a wild card and, last year, played a mix of ATP and USTA Pro Circuit events, Mike Olivella 2009 Winnetka singles champion Alex Kuznetsov earned a main-draw wild card into the 2013 French Open by winning the Har-Tru USTA Pro Circuit Wild Card Challenge and also qualified for Wimbledon this year. *Player field subject to change TournamenT noTes reaching the second round of the ATP event in San Jose as a qualifier 2009 and 2010 Winnetka singles runner-up Tim Smyczek, who before losing to Andy Roddick in three sets and reaching the second returned to the Grand Slam stage after earning a lucky loser spot into round of Indian Wells, where he faced Roger Federer. On the USTA Pro the 2013 Australian Open and winning his first-round match against Circuit in 2012, Kudla finished the year as the top ATP points earner former Top 20 player Ivo Karlovic, who is 6-foot-10 to Smyczek’s among Americans and the leader in prize money. Also in 2012, he served 5-foot-9. Smyczek’s success Down Under, on the heels of qualifying as a practice partner for the U.S. Davis Cup team for its quarterfinal tie for and reaching the second round of the 2012 US Open, helped against France and for its semifinal tie against Spain. As a junior player, bring him to the cusp of the Top 100 for the first time in his career, Kudla was ranked as high as No. 3 in the world and reached the boys’ and he subsequently qualified for three ATP events, including the ATP singles final at the 2010 US Open, losing an all-American title match Masters Series event in Miami. Smyczek made his first appearance in to Jack Sock in three sets. Kudla was born in Ukraine and came to the the main draw of the US Open in 2010 after winning an eight-man United States with his parents on his first birthday. USTA wild-card playoff. He backed that up by winning a similar six-man USTA playoff to earn a wild card into the 2011 French Open. Last year, Donald Young, who broke into the world’s Top 40 in February 2012 Smyczek won the final USTA Pro Circuit Challenger of the season in and qualified for the 2012 U.S. Olympic team. He competed in all Champaign, Ill., in addition to the $50,000 Challenger in Tallahassee. four Grand Slam events a year ago, reaching the second round of the Smyczek regularly trains at Saddlebrook Resort in Tampa, Fla., with Australian Open. In 2011, he reached the round of 16 at the US Open, fellow Americans James Blake, Mardy Fish and John Isner. upsetting two Top 30 players en route as he registered his best Grand Slam tournament result. He also reached the final of the ATP event in Bradley Klahn, who won the 2010 NCAA men’s singles title for Stanford Bangkok and the semifinals of the Emirates Airline US Open Series event before going pro. Following his pro debut, Klahn received a wild card into in Washington, D.C. In April 2013, Young won an ITF Circuit Challenger qualifying of the 2012 US Open and subsequently won three matches to in Leon, Mexico, for his first title since 2011. A standout junior player, advance to the main draw, where he upset Top 50 player and fellow lefty Young was a two-time Grand Slam tournament junior champion (2005 Jurgen Melzer in the first round in five sets. In doing so, Klahn became Australian Open, 2007 Wimbledon) and, at age 16 years, 5 months, the first-ever men’s qualifying wild card to win a round at the became the youngest-ever year-end world junior No. 1 in 2005. US Open. Following the US Open, Klahn advanced to three USTA Pro Circuit Challenger quarterfinals. This year, he was a practice partner for 2009 Winnteka singles champion Alex Kuznetsov, the 2004 junior the U.S. Davis Cup team in Jacksonville, Fla., where the United States French Open runner-up (to Gael Monfils), who earned a main-draw defeated Brazil. On the USTA Pro Circuit, Klahn reached the final of the wild card into the 2013 French Open by winning the Har-Tru USTA $10,000 Futures in Calabasas, Calif., in March 2013, and then won the Pro Circuit Wild Card Challenge. The USTA awarded one men’s singles singles title at the $10,000 Futures in Costa Mesa, Calif., the following main-draw wild card into the French Open to an American player based week. He also reached the doubles final of the $100,000 USTA Pro on his results on the USTA Pro Circuit. Kuznetsov earned 115 points Circuit Challenger in Sarasota, Fla., in April with Steve Johnson. in the Wild Card Challenge, winning the title in Sarasota to collect 100 points and earning 15 points by reaching the quarterfinals in Savannah Tennys Sandgren, who turned pro following his sophomore season and Tallahassee. Kuznetsov was a qualifier in Sarasota and won seven at the University of Tennessee, having reached the semifinals of the consecutive matches to take the title. The Sarasota Challenger was 2011 NCAA tournament, losing to former Tennessee teammate Rhyne Kuznetsov’s fourth career USTA Pro Circuit Challenger crown. Following Williams in three sets. Sandgren, whose name is pronounced like the the French Open, Kuznetsov also qualified for Wimbledon. In 2012, sport, won three USTA Pro Circuit Futures titles (in four finals) in 2012 he qualified for the Australian Open to make his first appearance in before transitioning to Challenger-level events for the remainder of the a Grand Slam main draw since 2007 and faced Rafael Nadal in the year. He also competed in qualifying at the 2012 US Open and, overall, first round. Kuznetsov had a strong end to 2012, reaching two USTA climbed nearly 300 spots in the ATP World Tour rankings.