Duval to Highlight USTA Australian Open Wild Card Playoffs Field

November 19, 2013 | By Long Island Tennis Magazine Staff
Photo credit: Adam Wolfthal

The USTA has announced that Victoria Duval, the 17-year-old breakout star of the 2013 U.S. Open with her first-round upset of 2011 U.S. Open champion Sam Stosur, will headline the women’s field for the 2013 USTA Australian Open Wild Card Playoffs, held Dec. 20-22 at Life Time Athletic at Peachtree Corners in Norcross, Ga.

Duval, who has overcome extraordinary adversity on her way to becoming the third-youngest player in the WTA Top 200 at number 168, once lived in Atlanta, and Life Time, when it was known as Racquet Club of the South, is where she trained as a junior player. While there, she met the family of real estate developer Harry Kitchen, who helped rescue her father after he was buried alive during the 2010 Haiti earthquake, having him airlifted to the United States for treatment.

Duval will be joined by Atlanta native and 2011 U.S. Open junior champion Grace Min (number 153), Shelby Rogers (number 126) and Madison Brengle (number 150), who won USTA wild cards into the 2007 and 2008 Australian Opens, as players competing for a singles wild card entry into the 2014 Australian Open. The annual Wild Card Playoffs, held at its current location for the fifth consecutive year, will feature eight men and eight women, with the remaining players to be announced at a later date. The USTA secured the opportunity through a reciprocal agreement with Tennis Australia, where the two national federations exchanged wild cards for the 2013 US Open and 2014 Australian Open.

To help kick off the event, former tennis pros and celebrities Luke and Murphy Jensen, whose underdog run to the 1993 French Open doubles championship both captivated and influenced the tennis world, will play doubles against five local teams in the “Battle of Georgia” exhibition on Dec. 21. The Jensen brothers will also host a women’s tennis clinic at Life Time on the morning of Dec. 20. The club will also host a kids’ day on Saturday morning, featuring the players competing in the Playoffs, with all kids attending receiving free admission to Saturday’s matches.

Eighteen-year old Madison Keys, currently the youngest player in the WTA Top 40 at number 38, won the last two women’s Australian Open Wild Card Playoffs, advancing to the third round of the Australian Open, and, later, Wimbledon, in 2013. Rhyne Williams won last year’s men’s Australian Open Wild Card Playoff and went on to reach his first ATP semifinal, in Houston, several months later. Also among previous champions are John Isner, Ryan Harrison, Lauren Davis, Christina McHale and CoCo Vandeweghe, while local players Mallory Burdette, Irina Falconi and Grace Min competed last year.


Long Island Tennis Magazine Staff
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