U.S. Open National Playoffs Begin in New Haven
The USTA has announced the 16 men and 16 women who will compete in the U.S. Open National Playoffs – Men’s and Women’s Singles Championships held Aug. 15-18 at the Connecticut Tennis Center at Yale in New Haven, Conn. The tournament is held in conjunction with the Connecticut Open presented by United Technologies, the final Emirates Airline U.S. Open Series women’s event of the summer. The respective men’s and women’s U.S. Open National Playoffs winners will receive a wild card into the 2014 US Open Qualifying Tournament, held on August 19-22 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y.
There were 1,088 players (723 men and 365 women) who competed in the fifth year of the U.S. Open National Playoffs in singles at one of 13 Sectional Qualifying Tournaments held throughout the United States with the winners and select runners-up qualifying for the Championships. The U.S. Open National Playoffs are designed to bring the spirit of the U.S. Open to cities and sections across the country, making the U.S. Open eligible to anyone and everyone 14 and over with the passion to compete, regardless of playing ability or nationality.
The U.S. Open National Playoffs–Men’s Singles Championship field includes (player, age, hometown and sectional qualifying tournament):
â–ºAlexander Centenari, 24, Towson, MD (USTA Mid-Atlantic)
â–ºJeff Dadamo, 25, Tampa, FL (USTA Florida)
â–ºDustin Goldenberg, 23, Birmingham, MI (USTA SoCal)
â–ºJoel Kielbowicz, 31, Scottsdale, AZ (USTA Southwest)
â–ºMaxx Lipman, 19, Nashville, TN (USTA Southern)
â–ºPunch Maleka, 35, Haverford, PA (USTA Middle States)
â–ºDaniel McCall, 21, San Francisco, CA (USTA SoCal)
â–ºHarrison O’Keefe, 19, Salem, VA (USTA Mid-Atlantic)
â–ºAnton Protsenko, 23, Greenwich, CT (USTA New England)
â–ºRonnie Schneider, 19, Bloomington, IN (USTA Midwest)
â–ºSamuel Shropshire, 19, Philadelphia, PA (USTA Midwest)
â–ºPhilip Simmonds, 28, New York City, NY (USTA Eastern)
â–ºSanam Singh, 26, Charlottesville, VA (USTA Mo. Valley)
â–ºIlia Shatashvili, 26, New York City, NY (USTA Middle States)
â–ºChris Wettengel, 32, Las Vegas, NV (USTA Southwest)
â–ºJesse Witten, 31, Naples, Fla. (USTA New England)
The U.S. Open National Playoffs–Women’s Singles Championship field includes (player, age, hometown and sectional qualifying tournament):
â–ºJessie Aney, 16, Rochester, MN (USTA Northern)
â–ºRima Asatrian, 18, Florham Park, NJ (USTA Eastern)
â–ºJacqueline Cako, 22, Brier, WA (USTA Southwest)
â–ºKelly Chen, 15, Cerritos, CA (USTA SoCal)
â–ºJulie Ditty, 35, Ashland, KY (USTA Southern)
â–ºJennifer Elie, 27, Fresh Meadows, NY (USTA Middle States)
â–ºMichaela Gordon, 15, Saratoga, CA (USTA NorCal)
â–ºPetra Januskova, 23, Ottawa, ON (USTA Eastern)^
â–ºAnne-Liz Jeukeng, 18, Boca Raton, FL (USTA Florida)
â–ºNicole Melichar, 21, Stuart, FL (USTA Mo. Valley)
â–ºSkylar Morton, 20, Bethesda, MD (USTA Mid-Atlantic)
â–ºDenise Muresan, 25, Lincolnshire, IL (USTA Midwest)
â–ºMalika Rose, 23, Davie, FL (USTA Texas)
â–ºZoe Scandalis, 20, Carlsbad, CA (USTA SoCal)
â–ºAshley Weinhold, 25, Spicewood, TX (USTA Texas)
â–ºCaitlin Whoriskey, 26, East Sandwich, MA (USTA New England)
The field in the Men’s Singles Championship has competed all over the world. Two players,Jesse Witten and Phillip Simmonds, have even competed in the U.S. Open men’s singles and doubles draws before. Maxx Lipman, Daniel McCall, Ronnie Schneider and Sanam Singh have previously competed in the junior events at the U.S. Open, while Singh has also represented India in Davis Cup.
The player that everyone will be looking to beat at this year’s Men’s Singles Championship is 25-year-old Jeff Dadamo, the defending U.S. Open National Playoffs champion. A former NCAA doubles champion and the holder of one USTA Pro Circuit singles title and two doubles titles, Dadamo stormed through the Florida sectional qualifier this year with the loss of just nine games.
Former University of Las Vegas standout Joel Kielbowicz, the Southwest runner-up, is the only one of the men’s competitors also competing in the US Open National Playoffs–Mixed Doubles Championship. He will team with Jacqueline Cako, the Southwest women’s singles champion, to try and earn a spot in the 2014 U.S. Open mixed doubles main draw.
Three sectional qualifying winners who were unable to compete in the U.S. Open National Playoffs–Men’s Singles Championships include Wyatt McCoy (USTA Northern winner), David Hsu (USTA NorCal winner), and Henry Gordon (USTA Texas winner).
The competitors in the Women’s Singles Championship range in age from 15 to 35. Four of the players have also experienced the grand stage of the U.S. Open—former Top 200 playerAshley Weinhold earned a 2007 U.S. Open wild card as the USTA Girls 18s champion and played in qualifying three times; Julie Ditty competed in U.S. Open qualifying five times and in the doubles main draw three times; teenager Anne Liz Jeukeng competed in U.S. Open qualifying in 2011; and Nicole Melichar competed in the U.S. Open mixed doubles draw in 2012 after winning the U.S. Open National Playoffs–Mixed Doubles Championship that year.
In the diverse field, future, current and former college standouts will also clash, as 10 of the 16 players have competed or will compete in college tennis. Also, five of the 13 players are teenagers, including 15-year-old Michaela Gordon, who is the youngest player competing in any of the US Open National Playoffs championship events; she was 14 when she won the USTA Northern California sectional qualifying tournament. The oldest player is 35-year-old Ditty, who ranked as high as No. 89 in the world before retiring from professional tennis in 2011.
Three women are playing in both the U.S. Open National Playoffs – Women’s Singles Championship and Mixed Doubles Championship, including Cako, Melichar, and Malika Rose.
Asia Muhammad, who won the USTA Missouri Valley Sectional Qualifying Tournament this summer, will not be competing in the U.S. Open National Playoffs because she already received a wild card into U.S. Open qualifying from the USTA.
The men’s draw can be found here and the women’s draw can be found here.
