Ryan Sweeting to Compete in Newport at Hall of Fame Tennis Championships

Ryan Sweeting, who just completed a dream week of going from wild card entry to champion at the U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship in Houston will compete in the Campbell’s Hall of Fame Tennis Championships in Newport, R.I., July 4-10. Sweeting joins a growing player field for Newport that features some of this season’s most exciting players, including defending champion Mardy Fish, who recently rose to the position of number one-ranked American; rising star young American Ryan Harrison, who advanced to the fourth round at Indian Wells and put up a fight against Roger Federer that ended via tie break; and Ivo Karlovic, who famously fired the fastest serve in history in March (156 mph) and has been rising through the rankings during his comeback season after being sidelined due to injury last year. This will be Sweeting’s first appearance in Newport.

"Ryan is a young American on the move and a great addition to our player field," said Mark L. Stenning, tournament director of the Campbell’s Hall of Fame Tennis Championships. "With our defending champion and top American Mardy Fish, as well as two rising American stars in Ryan Harrison and Ryan Sweeting, along with Ivo Karlovic, who is always exciting to watch, we can anticipate a great week of tennis for Newport fans to enjoy."

Sweeting cracked the top 100 of the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings for the first time in his career in January after qualifying for and making it to the second round at the Australian Open. Following his win in Houston last week, Sweeting jumped 26 positions from world number 93 to world number 67.

His Houston victory came in his first ATP World Tour final, his previous best result being the quarterfinals at Delray Beach, Fla. earlier this year. En route to the final in Houston, Sweeting upset number two-seeded Sam Querrey in the second round, came from a set behind to beat Teymuraz Gabashvili, in the quarterfinals, and defeated the tournament’s past champion Karlovic in the semifinals. In the finals, he defeated the number six seed Kei Nishikori, 6-4, 7-6 (3), in the youngest ATP World Tour final this season as Sweeting is 23 and Nishikori is 21.