TOURNAMENT NOTES as of September 11, 2015 THE ASCENSION PROJECT WOMEN’S $25,000 CHALLENGER REDDING, CA • SEPTEMBER 13-20 USTA PRO CIRCUIT WOMEN’S TENNIS RETURNS TO REDDING TOURNAMENT INFO The Ascension Project Women’s $25,000 Site: Sun Oaks Tennis and Fitness – Redding, Calif. Challenger is being held in Redding for Websites: procircuit.usta.com the 13th consecutive year. It is the first www.sunoaks.com/TENNIS/PRO-TOURNAMENT-2/ USTA Pro Circuit women’s event following Steven Ryan the US Open and one of four women’s events Facebook: Sun Oaks Tennis & Fitness held in California this year. Twitter: @sun_oaks To follow the tournament, download the Qualifying Draw Begins: Sunday, September 13 USTA Pro Circuit’s new phone app by searching “procircuit” in the app store. Main Draw Begins: Tuesday, September 15 Main Draw: 32 Singles / 16 Doubles Notable players competing in the main draw include: Prize Money: $25,000 Surface: Hard / Outdoor Tournament Director: Vania King, who is playing in just her fifth Julie Garcia, (530) 227-3498, [email protected] tournament since the 2014 US Open, where she lost in the second round to Serena Tournament Press Contact: Williams. She has been out since with a hip Stephen A. Campbell, (530) 221-1584 injury. King has ranked as high as No. 50 in [email protected] the world in singles and No. 3 in doubles, USTA Communications Contact: winning the women’s doubles titles at the US Open and Wimbledon in 2010. She has Vania King has played in just four tournaments Amanda Korba, (914) 697-2219, [email protected] this year since recovering from a hip injury. won 14 WTA doubles titles and one singles She has ranked as high as No. 50 in the world PRIZE MONEY / POINTS title (in Bangkok in 2006). King has also in singles and No. 3 in doubles, winning the SINGLES: Prize Money Ranking Points represented the U.S. in Fed Cup. women’s doubles titles at the US Open and Winner $3,919 50 Wimbledon in 2010. Runner-up $2,091 30 2013 and 2014 Redding doubles champion Semifinalist $1,114 18 and 2014 singles finalistLauren Embree, 2009, Embree won a USTA wild-card playoff Quarterfinalist $ 654 9 who completed her outstanding college to earn a berth into the main draw of the Round of 16 $ 392 5 career at the University of Florida in 2013 French Open, where she lost in the opening Round of 32 $ 228 1 by being named the National College Player of the Year. Embree went 26-3 in her final round to former world No. 3 Nadia Petrova. DOUBLES: Prize Money (per team) year for the Gators at the No. 1 singles spot, Winner $1,437 and she compiled a staggering 117-16 2013 Redding singles finalist and doubles Runner-up $ 719 singles record during her four years in champion Robin Anderson, who graduated Semifinalist $ 359 Gainesville. As a pro in 2013, she won her from UCLA this year having earned All- Quarterfinalist $ 196 second USTA Pro Circuit singles title at the America honors in both singles and doubles Round of 16 $ 131 $10,000 event in Fort Worth, Texas. This for the fourth consecutive year, becoming COMMUNITY EVENTS year, she reached one USTA Pro Circuit final, the seventh player in school history to be at the $25,000 event in Sumter, S.C. In accomplish that feat. This year, she was Saturday, September 12 named the ITA National Collegiate Player Ascension Wine Tasting Fundraiser, 7:00 p.m. for the Year. Anderson was part of UCLA’s Sunday, September 13 NCAA-title winning team in 2014 and Road to College Workshop, 6:00 p.m. advanced to the NCAA doubles final in Tuesday-Wednesday, September 15-16 2013. She holds one USTA Pro Circuit Dave Kenas School Site Visits singles title at the $10,000 event in Wednesday, September 16 Landisville, Pa., in 2011, and one doubles Sun Oaks Junior Clinic, 4:30 p.m. title here in Redding in 2013. Anderson Saturday, September 19 Kids Tennis Carnival, 9:00-10:00 a.m. High School Girls’ Clinic, 11:00 a.m. Former University of Florida star Lauren Embree 10 and Under Tennis Exhibition owns two USTA Pro Circuit singles titles and won Sunday, September 20 the Redding doubles titles in 2013 and 2014. Special Olympics Clinic, 11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. Wheelchair Exhibition, 11:30 a.m. *Player field subject to change TOURNAMENT NOTES also reached the Landisville final this year. As a junior player, she semifinals and won the doubles title at a $25,000 event in Santiago, reached the singles quarterfinals of the 2010 junior US Open. Chile. Albanese won the USTA Girls’ 18s title in 2006 to earn a wild card into the US Open, where she advanced to the second round in Caitlin Whoriskey, a former University of Tennessee standout women’s singles. She also competed in the US Open in 2007 who was named the 2010 College Senior Player of the Year after leading the Volunteers to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament. Nadja Gilchrist, who was a standout player for the University of Whoriskey captured her first career USTA Pro Circuit singles title Georgia, where she reached the NCAA doubles final during her last year at the $10,000 event in Hilton Head Island, S.C., where senior season in 2012 (with Chelsey Gullickson). Gilchrist was also she also won the doubles crown. This year, she reached the singles a three-time All-American at Georgia, with nearly 200 singles and quarterfinals and doubles semifinals at the $100,000 USTA Pro doubles wins. She won her first pro singles title this year at an ITF Circuit event in Midland, Mich., and won her eighth and ninth USTA Pro Circuit event in Egypt and captured her first and (to date) only Pro Circuit/ITF Pro Circuit doubles titles at the $25,000 event doubles title in 2008 at the $10,000 USTA Pro Circuit event in in Jackson, Miss., and the $50,000 event in Sacramento, Calif. Hilton Head Island, S.C. Whoriskey also won the 2014 US Open National Playoffs to earn a wild card into the US Open Qualifying Tournament, where she won Alexandra Stevenson, 34, who drew international attention in 1999 her first-round match. by becoming the first female qualifier in Wimbledon history to reach the event’s semifinals. She was ranked in the year-end Top 100 Lauren Albanese, who reached at least one USTA Pro Circuit final each year from 1999 to 2003, peaking at No. 18 in 2002. Injuries each year from 2006 to 2009 and advanced to two semifinals in drove her ranking into the 600s in 2005, but Stevenson rebounded an injury-shortened 2011. In 2013, she won her first USTA Pro to climb back into the Top 200 in 2009, advancing to the final at Circuit singles crown in seven years, taking the title at the $10,000 the $50,000 USTA Pro Circuit event in Carson, Calif., for her best event in Austin, Texas. This year, she has competed on the USTA result on the USTA Pro Circuit since 1998. She is the daughter of Pro Circuit and in Mexico and Canada. Last year, she reached the basketball Hall-of-Famer Julius Erving. REDDING PAST WINNERS Singles Doubles Year Winner Runner-Up Year Winner 2014 Jennifer Brady (USA) Lauren Embree (USA) 2014 Jennifer Brady (USA) – Lauren Embree (USA) 2013 Adriana Perez (VEN) Robin Anderson (USA) 2013 Robin Anderson (USA) – Lauren Embree (USA) 2012 Chelsey Gullickson (USA) Allie Will (USA) 2012 Jacqueline Cako (USA) – Sanaz Marand (USA) 2011 Julia Boserup (USA) Olga Puchkova (RUS) 2011 Maria Sanchez (USA) – Yasmin Schnack (USA) 2010 Jamie Hampton (USA) Jelena Pandzic (CRO) 2010 Christina Fusano (USA) – Yasmin Schnack (USA) 2009 Laura Granville (USA) Rika Fujiwara (JPN) 2009 Anna Orlik (BLR) – Masa Zec-Peskiric (SLO) 2008 Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (CZE) Aleksandra Wozniak (CAN) 2008 Angela Haynes (USA) – Abigail Spears (USA) 2007 Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE) Ekaterina Afinogenova (RUS) 2007 Chin-Wei Chan (TPE) – Julie Ditty (USA) 2006 Diana Ospina (USA) Anne Keothavong (GBR) 2006 Vasilisa Bardina (RUS) – Ahsha Role (USA) 2005 Lucie Safarova (CZE) Ivana Lisjak (CRO) 2005 Yulia Beygelzeimer (UKR) – Stephanie Dubois (CAN) 2004 Anne Keothavong (GBR) Mashona Washington (USA) 2004 Jennifer Hopkins (USA) – Mashona Washington (USA) 2003 Jana Nejedly (CAN) Zheng Jie (CHN) 2003 Yan Zi (CHN) – Zheng Jie (CHN) *Player field subject to change TOURNAMENT NOTES *Player field subject to change VANCOUVER PAST WINNERS Singles Doubles Year Winner Runner-Up Year Winner 2014 Jarmila Gajdosova (AUS) Lesia Tsurenko (UKR) 2014 Asia Muhammad (USA) – Maria Sanchez (USA) 2013 Johanna Konta (GBR) Sharon Fichman (CAN) 2013 Sharon Fichman (CAN) – Maryna Zanevska (UKR) 2012 Mallory Burdette (USA) Jessica Pegula (USA) 2012 Julia Glushko (ISR) – Olivia Rogowska (AUS) 2011 Aleksandra Wozniak (CAN) Jamie Hampton (USA) 2011 Karolina Pliskova (CZE) – Kristyna Pliskova (CZE) 2010 Jelena Dokic (AUS) Virginie Razzano (FRA) 2010 Kai-Chen Chang (TPE) – Heidi El Tabakh (CAN) 2009 Stephanie Dubois (CAN) Sania Mirza (IND) 2009 Ahsha Rolle (USA) – Riza Zalameda (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. The USTA launched the game—and stay in the game. Kids are learning to play its Pro Circuit in 1979 to provide players with the opportunity to gain professional ranking points, and faster than ever before through the USTA’s youth initiative, it has since grown to become the largest developmental tennis circuit in the world, offering nearly which is geared toward getting more kids to participate in $3 million in prize money.