Falconi in Lead for Women’s Australian Open Wild Card Challenge
Irina Falconi took the lead in the women’s standings after the second week of the 2014 USTA Pro Circuit Australian Open Wild Card Challenge. Falconi won the $50,000 women’s event in New Braunfels, Texas, this past weekend, defeating fellow American Jennifer Brady, 7-6(3), 6-2, for Falconi’s first USTA Pro Circuit singles title since 2010. Falconi now holds 109 points in the wild card challenge standings—80 points from winning in New Braunfels and 29 points by reaching the semifinals of the $50,000 event in Macon, Ga., two weeks ago. Grace Min is in second place with 63 points and Brady is in third place with 49 points.
As of this week, Min is ranked No. 103 in the world and Falconi is ranked 114th, which means that both are approaching the cutoff for the Australian Open. The USTA Pro Circuit Australian Open Wild Card Challenge is open to Americans who do not earn direct entry into the Australian Open. The Australian Open entry list will be released on Monday, Dec. 8, which could affect player eligibility for the wild card challenge.
In the men’s standings, Denis Kudla and Alex Kuznetsov are tied with 29 points after Week One. The two men both reached the semifinals of the $50,000 Challenger in Charlottesville, Va.
The USTA Pro Circuit Australian Open Wild Card Challenge concludes this week for the women, with the $50,000 South Seas Island Resort Women’s Pro Classic in Captiva Island, Fla. The men’s challenge continues into its second week at the $50,000 Knoxville 2014 Challenger in Knoxville, Tenn. All matches will be streamed live on www.procircuit.usta.com.
In the USTA Pro Circuit Australian Open Wild Card Challenge, the USTA awards a 2015 Australian Open wild card to the American man and American woman who earn the most ATP World Tour and WTA ranking points at two of the three select USTA Pro Circuit hard-court events this fall. The USTA and Tennis Australia have a reciprocal agreement in which wild cards into the 2014 U.S. Open and 2015 Australian Open are exchanged. In the event of a tie, the player with the best ATP or WTA singles ranking will be awarded the wild card. The 2015 Australian Open main draw will be held Monday, Jan. 19-Sunday, Feb. 1.
This format replaces the USTA Australian Open Wild Card Playoffs, an elimination tournament that had been held since 2006 for the women and 2007 for the men. Each of the last five years the tournament featured an eight-player, single-elimination playoff held at Life Time Athletic at Peachtree Corners in Norcross, Ga., to determine the Australian Open wild cards.
The standings, as of Nov. 3, are as follows:
