ALEXANDRA MUELLER AND CLEMENT REIX CAPTURE US OPEN NATIONAL PLAYOFFS – WOMEN’S AND MEN’S SINGLES CHAMPIONSHIPS

Written by: Staff on 20th August 2012

ALEXANDRA MUELLER AND CLEMENT REIX CAPTURE US OPEN NATIONAL PLAYOFFS – WOMEN’S AND MEN’S SINGLES CHAMPIONSHIPS |

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., August 20, 2012 – The USTA announced today that Alexandra Mueller and Clement Reix won the 2012 US Open National Playoffs – Women’s and Men’s Singles Championships to earn wild cards into the 2012 US Open Qualifying Tournament. The Playoffs were held August 17-20, at the Connecticut Tennis Center at Yale in New Haven, Conn., in conjunction with the New Haven Open at Yale presented by First Niagara, the final Emirates Airline US Open Series women’s event of the summer.

As the No. 2 seed, Mueller, 24, of Abington, Pa., defeated No. 1 seed Mayo Hibi, 7-6(2), 6-3, to capture the 2012 US Open National Playoffs women’s title. Mueller won the inaugural US Open National Playoffs women’s title in 2010, defeating former world No. 51 Alina Jidkova in the final. Mueller was a standout junior who competed on the U.S. Junior Fed Cup team. As a pro, she has captured three career USTA Pro Circuit singles titles, and she competed in the US Open doubles main draw in 2004 and 2007. She lost in the first round of US Open qualifying in 2010.

The top seed in the US Open National Playoffs – Men’s Singles Championship, Reix, 28, of Amiens, France, defeated No. 2 seed and former UCLA standout Nicolas Meister, 6-2, 6-3, in today’s final. A former All-American at Clemson University, Reix has won four Futures singles titles and two doubles titles in his native France. His ranking peaked at No. 250 in the world a year ago, which earned him a place in the 2011 US Open Qualifying Tournament.

Mueller will face Spain’s Beatriz Garcia Vidagany in the first round of US Open Qualifying and Reix will face Japan’s Hiroki Moriya. The 2012 US Open Qualifying Tournament will be held August 21-24, at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y., the home of the US Open.

More than 900 combined men and women (639 men and 298 women) competed in the third year of the US Open National Playoffs in singles, playing in one of 13 Sectional Qualifying Tournaments held throughout the United States. The US Open National Playoffs are designed to bring the spirit of the US Open to cities and sections across the country, making the US Open eligible to anyone and everyone 14 and over with the passion to compete, regardless of playing ability or nationality.

Mixed doubles was added last year, and the 2012 Mixed Doubles Championship will take place in New Haven, August 22-25, with the winning team earning a wild card into the main draw of the 2012 US Open.