GONZALEZ, KARLOVIC AND QUERREY HEADLINE MAIN DRAW FIELD AT THE 2011 TIBURON CHALLENGER

Written by: Staff on 6th October 2011

GONZALEZ, KARLOVIC AND QUERREY HEADLINE MAIN DRAW FIELD AT THE 2011 TIBURON CHALLENGER

Chilean Fernando González hits the ball against Italian Fabio Fognini during their match of Davis Cup held at the Court Central in Santiago de Chile, Chile on, 16 September 2011. EPA/Felipe Trueba |

TIBURON, CA, October 5, 2011 –

“When I saw the entry list for this year’s tournament, all I could say was ‘Wow!'” says Jerry Pang, General Manager at Tiburon Peninsula Club, the newly renovated private sport & leisure facility on the beautiful Tiburon Peninsula, overlooking San Francisco Bay. This is the 5th year that the Tiburon Peninsula Club has hosted the USTA Pro-Circuit Tiburon Challenger and it’s arguably the strongest field in the tournament’s history to date. The field for the FRB Tiburon Challenger features 32 singles players and 16 doubles teams from around the globe.

Gonzalez, former world No. 5, is recovering from a hip injury and working his way back up the ATP ranks. A native of Chile, Gonzalez has reached the quarterfinals or better at all four Grand Slam tournaments, including a runner-up showing at the 2007 Australian Open. He has also captured every Olympic medal, winning the bronze medal in singles at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, the gold medal in doubles in Athens with compatriot Nicolas Massu, and the silver medal in singles during the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. He carried his country’s flag at Beijing Olympics opening ceremony in 2008.

Ivo Karlovic (ee-vo CAR-lo-vitch) is perhaps best known for his incredible 156 mph serve – currently the fastest in the world. During defeat in the Davis Cup doubles rubber between Croatia and Germany, a serve by Karlovic was recorded at 251 kph (155.96 mph) as the fastest in history – that topped the serve recorded at 249.4 kph hit by Andy Roddick during the Davis Cup semi-finals in 2004. At 6’10”, he is also the tallest player in ATP rankings history (since 1973) to rank in the Top 100. A former World No. 14, Karlovic reached the quarterfinals of Wimbledon in 2009 and has captured four career ATP World Tour singles titles. Karlovic spends his time in his native Croatia and also at his residence in Miami, Fl.

Sam Querrey turns 24 in two days (October 7). Ranked No. 17 at the beginning of 2011, Querrey injured his elbow – an injury that required surgery. At 6’6”, Querrey holds six career ATP singles titles and has played on the U.S. David Cup team. He reached round 16 at the 2008 and 2010 US Open. He’s also been known to hit a home run or two (Querrey’s father was drafted by Detroit Tigers but chose to play college baseball instead).

Tickets to the $100,000 First Republic Bank Tiburon Challenger can be purchased online at http://tiburonchallenger.com/tickets/. Single day, weekend daily and weekend 2-day passes are available. Admission is free October 8-9.

Live updates throughout the Tiburon Challenger tournament will be posted at http://tiburonchallenger.com/, Facebook & Twitter. Bay Area tennis enthusiasts also have a chance to win 2 VIP admission tickets for Finals Day, October 16th on Facebook.