Opening night at the U.S. Open tennis tournament traditionally features a couple matches with American tennis stars, as well as a special celebration.  This year, the USTA honored those who “dream, succeed and inspire”.  The ceremony honored Martina Navratilova, James Blake, wheelchair tennis legend, Esther Vergeer, and USTA

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Posted by TC at 09:54 AM || Comments (0)

Arthur Ashe Kids' Day, on the weekend prior to the start of the U.S. Open, has now been a tradition for over fifteen years, but it’s one that continues to be worth celebrating and honoring.  Today, many tennis fans, especially kids, do not know who Arthur Ashe is nor know of all the wonderful work he accomplished off the tennis court let alone

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Posted by TC at 08:31 AM || Comments (0)

The scorching heat in New York City today at the 2010 U.S. Open raised the question of why there is a ”heat rule” in women’s tennis, but not one in men’s tennis?  In women’s tennis, there is a formula that calculates whether there are “excessive heat” conditions

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Posted by TC at 05:56 PM || Comments (0)

The coveted main draw wildcards aka “free passes” into the men’s and women’s singles draws at the 2010 U.S. Open have been given to the following eight lucky men and eight lucky women.  

Women:

o    Chelsey Gullickson – 20, of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.  She won the NCAA Division I singles title this year representing the University of Georgia. Her sister, Carly, won the 2009 U.S. Open Mixed Doubles title and her father, Bill, pitched for the New York Yankees and Detroit Tigers.
o    Coco Vandeweghe - 18, of Rancho Mirage, California.  She is ranked 168th, a career high.  She won a USTA playoff to earn a wildcard into the 2010 Australian Open and also won her first pro title at the $50,000 USTA Pro Circuit event in Carson, California.  She also reached the quarters of the 2010 Olympus US Open Series tournament in San Diego defeating Vera Zvonareva along the way.  Vandeweghe won the 2008 US Open Junior Girls’ singles championship.  She comes from a family of famous athletes.  Her mother, Tauna, was an Olympic medalist in both swimming and volleyball, and her uncle, Kiki Vandeweghe, is a former NBA star and general manager and head coach of the New Jersey Nets.
o    Jamie Hampton – 20, of Auburn, Alabama. She is ranked 160th and reached six USTA Pro Circuit singles finals, winning three titles. She also qualified for the Olympus US Open Series event in San Diego and won the USTA Girls’ 18s doubles title (2007-08) to earn wild cards into the US Open women’s doubles draw.
o    Christina McHale - 18, of Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.  She is ranked 115th, a career high.  In 2009, she earned a wildcard by winning the USTA Girls’ 18s National Championship and in 2010 she won a USTA playoff to earn a French Open main-draw wild card.  She also reached the round of 16 at both the Family Circle Cup in Charleston, S.C., and the Olympus US Open Series event in Cincinnati.
o    Shelby Rogers - 17, of Daniel Island, South Carolina.  She won the USTA Girls’ 18s National Championships to earn the wildcard.  She also reached the final of the $50,000 USTA Pro Circuit event in Florida and the quarterfinals of the $75,000 tournament in Vancouver.
o    Beatrice Capra – 18, of Ellicott City, Maryland.  She won the USTA wildcard playoff.
o    Sophie Ferguson (Australian reciprocal wild card) - 24, of Australia.  She is ranked 113th and she qualified for the 2010 French Open where she reached the second round.  She also reached the final of the $25,000 USTA Pro Circuit event in Fort Walton Beach, Florida.
o    Virginie Razzano (French reciprocal wild card) - 27, of France.  She is ranked 114th, but was ranked in the top twenty in 2009 after reaching the fourth round of the French Open and Wimbledon.  She is a member of the French Federation Cup team and has won two titles during her career.  This will be her tenth appearance in the U.S. Open.

Men:

o    James Blake - 30, of Tampa, Florida.  He has been ranked as high as 4th and won 10 career singles titles.  He reached the U.S. Open quarters in 2005 and 2006 and also played on the 2007 U.S. Davis Cup Championship team.  
o    Bradley Klahn - 20, of Poway, California.  As a sophomore at Stanford University, he won the 2010 NCAA Division I singles title as a sophomore at Stanford University this summer.  As a junior, he was ranked Number One in the Boys’ 18s.   
o    Jack Sock - 17, of Lincoln, Nebraska.  He won the USTA Boys’ 18s National Championships.  In 2009, he won his first pro title at the $10,000 USTA Pro Circuit event in Amelia Island, Florida.
o    Ryan Sweeting - 23, of Fort Lauderdale, Florida.  He won the 2005 U.S. Open Junior Boys’ title and is at a career high ranking of 111th.  He won the USTA wildcard playoff for the 2010 French Open and also qualified for Wimbledon.  This will be his sixth straight year in the U.S. Open main draw.  He has won three singles titles on the USTA Pro Circuit.
o    Donald Young - 21, of Atlanta, Georgia.  He is now ranked 101st.  In 2005, he was the Number One ranked junior in the world and won the 2005 Australian Open Junior Boys’ title and the 2007 Wimbledon Junior Boys’ title.   
o    Tim Smyczek – 22, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  He won the USTA wildcard playoff.
o    Carsten Ball (Australian reciprocal wild card) - 23, was born in California, where he still lives, but he represents Australia.  He is ranked 145th and won his first Challenger title this summer and reached the final at the ATP Tour stop on Los Angeles last summer.
o    Guillaume Rufin (French reciprocal wild card) -  20, of Charnay, France.  He is ranked 207th.  He qualified for the 2010 Australian Open and will be playing in his first U.S. Open.

Posted by TC at 09:58 AM || Comments (0)

The USTA decided to hold a wildcard playoff for one of the coveted main draw wildcard spots into the 2010 U.S. Open.  Eight men and eight women played in the playoff tournament.  The other wildcard slots were given by the USTA to American players, as well as

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Posted by TC at 02:52 AM || Comments (0)