USTA Player Development Announces New U.S. Open Wild Card Playoff for Elite Players
The USTA has announced that it will host a new U.S. Open Wild Card Playoff to award a men’s and women’s main draw singles wild card into the 2010 U.S. Open. Eight men and eight women will be invited to compete for the wild cards, Wednesday-Friday, Aug. 18-20 at the USTA Training Center Headquarters in Boca Raton, Fla. The USTA has held wild card playoffs since 2007 to determine wild cards into the Australian and French Opens per reciprocal agreements with Tennis Australia and the French Tennis Federation.
“Our wild card tournaments for the Australian and French Opens have shown that our philosophy of letting our top emerging players compete for the opportunity to play at the highest levels is working,” said Patrick McEnroe, general manager, USTA Player Development. “I believe that applying this process to the US Open sends a strong message to our players that opportunities such as a U.S. Open wild card are meant to be earned through hard work, dedication and competition.”
The list of invited players is comprised of some of the country’s top collegiate and junior players, as well as a number of professionals who compete primarily on the USTA Pro Circuit, including:
Men
â–ºChase Buchanan of New Albany, Ohio
â–ºAndrea Collarini, Boca Raton, Fla.
â–ºAlexander Domijan, Wesley Chapel, Fla.
â–ºRyan Harrison, Bradenton, Fla.
â–ºJarmere Jenkins – College Park, Ga.
â–ºSteve Johnson – Orange, Calif.
â–ºAustin Krajicek – Brandon, Fla.
â–ºTim Smyczek – Milwaukee, Wis.
Women
â–ºJulia Boserup, Boca Raton, Fla.
â–ºMadison Brengle, Dover, Del.
â–ºBeatrice Capra, Ellicott City, Md.
â–ºIrina Falconi, Jupiter, Fla.
â–ºNicole Gibbs – Santa Monica, Calif.
â–ºKrista Hardebeck – Santa Ana, Calif.
â–ºMadison Keys – Boca Raton, Fla.
â–ºAlison Riske – McMurray, Pa.
Play will begin each day at 10:00 a.m. ET. The men’s and women’s finals will be played consecutively, with the women’s final starting at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, Aug. 20, and a best-of-five set men’s final to follow. The event will be free to the public throughout.
For more information, visit www.usta.com.
