TournamenT noTes as of march 20, 2012 THE OAKS CLUB $50,000 OSPREY, FL • MARCH 25 – APRIL 1 USTA PRO CIRCUIT WOMEN’S EVENT RETURNS TO OSPREY TournamenT InFormaTIon The Oaks Club $50,000 returns to Osprey, Fla., for the fourth consecutive year. After distributing $25,000 in prize money each Site: The Oaks Club, Osprey, Fla. of the last three years, 2012 marks the first Getty Images Websites: www.theoaksclub.com/ustaproevent year the event will offer $50,000. It is the procircuit.usta.com first $50,000 event on the women’s 2012 USTA Pro Circuit calendar and the first of four Qualifying Draw Begins: Sunday, March 25 $50,000 women’s events that will be played on Main Draw Begins: Tuesday, March 27 clay through the end of April to prepare players for the French Open. Main Draw: 32 Singles / 16 Doubles Surface: Clay / Outdoor The tournament will hold a 10 and Under Tennis clinic on Saturday, March 31. Prize Money: $50,000 10 and Under Tennis is a national initiative Tournament Director: created to develop young players. It uses right-sized equipment and smaller courts to Thomas Whitten, (530) 515-0728 better allow kids to rally and play the game. [email protected] On January 1, the rules of tennis officially Tournament Press Contact: changed in the United States to require that Allison Moore, (941) 961-3708 all USTA-sanctioned events for kids 10 and [email protected] under be played utilizing some combination of the smaller, lighter racquets, slower- USTA Public Relations Contacts: moving and lower-bouncing balls, and smaller Current Top 100 player Irina Falconi reached Eric Schuster, (914) 696-7260, [email protected] courts utilized by 10 and Under Tennis. Amanda Korba, (914) 697-2219, [email protected] the third round of the 2011 US Open and captured the singles gold medal in the 2011 Those players entered in the main draw this Pan Am Games. PrIze money / PoInTs week include current world No. 100 Irina Falconi, who first broke into the WTA Top 100 SINGLES: Prize Money Ranking Points in 2011 and reached the third round of the 2011 US Open, upsetting No. 14 Dominika Winner $7,315 70 Cibulkova in the second round in Arthur Ashe Runner-Up $3,990 50 Stadium. The former collegiate Player of the Semifinalist $2,185 32 Year at Georgia Tech competed in all four Quarterfinalist $1,235 18 Grand Slam events in 2011, qualifying for Round 16 $760 10 Ron Angle the Australian Open and Wimbledon, as well Round 32 $475 1 as winning a USTA playoff to earn a wild card into the French Open. She also was selected DOUBLES: Prize Money (per team) to represent the United States in the 2011 Winner $2,660 Pan American Games, where she won the Runner-Up $1,425 gold medal in singles and the silver medal in Semifinalist $760 doubles (with Christina McHale). Quarterfinalist $380 Round 16 $285 Also expected in the main draw is current world No. 61 Lucie Hradecka of the Czech Republic, CommunITy eVenTs who won the women’s doubles title at the 2011 French Open and the singles title at the Saturday, March 24 2011 $100,000 USTA Pro Circuit event in Pro-Am, evening Midland, Mich.; she also won the doubles title Saturday, March 31 Kids’ Clinic featuring 10 and Under Tennis Melanie Oudin, a tournament wild card, 9:30-10:30 a.m. reached the singles quarterfinals of the 2009 US Open and won the 2011 US Open mixed doubles title. *Player field subject to change TournamenT noTes in Midland this year. Currently ranked a career-high No. 11 in doubles, who is the daughter of Buffalo Sabres owner Terry Pegula and who Hradecka advanced to the doubles semifinals of the WTA event in Indian reached her first professional final in 2011 at the $25,000 event in Lutz, Wells two weeks ago and won the doubles at the WTA event in Memphis, Fla., in addition to advancing to the round of 16 in women’s doubles at Tenn., the week prior. the 2011 US Open; and Madison Brengle, a former world No. 4 junior player who has competed in the main draws of the Australian Open, In addition to Falconi and Hradecka, the main draw will feature French Open and US Open. six other players ranked in the WTA Top 100, including: Barbora Zahlavova Styrcova of the Czech Republic, the highest-ranked player Americans competing in qualifying include: 2008 US Open girls’ singles in the field at No. 59, who won her first WTA title in 2011 in Quebec champion and U.S. Fed Cupper Coco Vandeweghe, who broke into the City, Canada, and who this year faced Serena Williams in the second WTA Top 100 in 2011 after reaching the quarterfinals of the WTA event round of the Australian Open; Anastasia Yakimova of Belarus, who in in Memphis, Tenn., reached the second round of the 2011 US Open and 2011 won two $100,000 ITF Pro Circuit events in the Bahamas and is the niece of former NBA All-Star Kiki Vandeweghe; Grace Min, the China, and who last month faced Williams and Christina McHale in 2011 US Open girls’ singles champion, who trains full-time at the USTA the Fed Cup World Group II First Round in Worcester, Mass.; Eleni Training Center Headquarters in Boca Raton, Fla., and who won the first Daniilidou of Greece, who has won five career WTA singles titles and women’s USTA Pro Circuit title of 2012 in Plantation, Fla., and reached achieved a career-high WTA ranking of No. 14 in 2003 after reaching the final of the $25,000 event in Clearwater, Fla., two weeks ago; and the fourth round at Wimbledon in 2002 and at the Australian Open 2010 Easter Bowl champion Krista Hardebeck, who reached the girls’ in 2003; and Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands, the former Australian semifinals at the 2012 Australian Open and who will play collegiately at Open girls’ singles champion who upset No. 2 seed Kim Clijsters to Stanford University in the fall. advance to the third round of the 2011 French Open. Other players competing in qualifying are: Julia Boserup, who won her The main draw will also include: 18-year-old Laura Robson of Great first professional title in 2011 at the $25,000 USTA Pro Circuit event in Britain, a former top-ranked player in the ITF World Junior Rankings Redding, Calif., and broke into the Top 200 earlier this year after winning who won the girls’ singles title at Wimbledon in 2008; and 18-year old the $25,000 event in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.; Julia Cohen, who earned Eugenie Bouchard of Canada, currently ranked No. 4 in the ITF World All-America honors at both the University of Florida and the University Junior Rankings, who won her first two professional titles in 2011 at a of Miami, and captured two $25,000 titles overseas in the fall of 2011; $25,000 event in Australia and a $10,000 event in Croatia, respectively. Chichi Scholl, who rose nearly 600 slots in the WTA rankings in 2011 after sweeping the singles and doubles titles at both the $25,000 event Those players receiving main draw wilds cards include Melanie Oudin, in El Paso, Texas, and the $50,000 event in Lexington, Ky.; and Ashley who in 2009 beat three-time Grand Slam tournament champion Maria Weinhold, the 2007 USTA Girls’ 18s national champion, who won her Sharapova en route to the US Open quarterfinals and former world second career professional title in 2011 at the $25,000 event in Rancho No. 1 Jelena Jankovic to reach the fourth round at Wimbledon. Oudin Mirage, Calif. In addition, Weinhold has served as a practice partner for also captured the 2011 US Open mixed doubles title with up-and- the U.S. Fed Cup team (in 2008) and played for the World TeamTennis coming American Jack Sock. Other wild cards include: Jessica Pegula, St. Louis Aces (in 2009). *Player field subject to change TournamenT noTes USTA PRO CIRCUIT 10 AND UNDER TENNIS With approximately 90 tournaments hosted annually throughout the country and prize money ranging from On January 1, the USTA announced that the rules of tennis $10,000 to $100,000, the USTA Pro Circuit is the pathway to the US Open and tour-level competition for have officially changed and require that 10 and Under Tennis aspiring tennis players and a frequent battleground for established professionals. The USTA launched its tournaments be played utilizing smaller, lighter racquets Pro Circuit 33 years ago to provide players with the opportunity to gain professional ranking points, and it and lower-bouncing balls on smaller courts. This rule change has since grown to become the largest developmental tennis circuit in the world, offering nearly $3 million signifies the emergence of 10 and Under Tennis as an integral in prize money. Last year, more than 1,000 men and women from more than 70 countries competed in cities part of the development of young players. The scaled-down nationwide. Mardy Fish, Maria Sharapova, Andy Roddick, Caroline Wozniacki, James Blake, Li Na and equipment and smaller courts better allow kids to rally and Andy Murray are among today’s top stars who began their careers on the USTA Pro Circuit. play the game earlier in their development, and increase the likelihood they will return to the court and continue to More recently, the USTA Pro Circuit improve while having fun doing so. For more information, visit helped launch the careers of two young www.10andundertennis.com.