USTA Pro Circuit US Open Wild Card Update (7/29)

Written by: Staff on 29th July 2013

USTA Pro Circuit US Open Wild Card Update (7/29)

epa02310154 Shelby Rogers of the US hits a forehand return to Shuai Peng of China during their first round match at the 2010 US Open Tennis Championship at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing, Meadows, New York, USA, 31 August 2010. The US Open Championship runs through 12 September when the men's final is scheduled to be played. EPA/JUSTIN LANE |

USTA Player Development is awarding a US Open main draw wild card to one American man and one American woman who earn the most ranking points in a series of USTA Pro Circuit events this summer. Ranking points from two out of four men’s events and two out of three women’s events are used and combined to calculate the point total and determine the US Open wild card recipient. If a player competes in more than two events, only the best tournaments will be counted in calculating the point total. Only players who have not earned direct acceptance into the US Open are eligible for the wild card.

Shelby Rogers, 20, of Charleston, S.C., earned a main draw wild card into the 2013 US Open yesterday after winning the $50,000 USTA Pro Circuit event in Lexington, Ky. Rogers earned 102 points with her best two results on the USTA Pro Circuit, winning Lexington and reaching the semifinals at the $50,000 event in Portland, Ore. Rogers also earned a main-draw wild card into the 2013 French Open by winning the Har-Tru USTA Pro Circuit Wild Card Challenge in the spring. (At the French Open, she defeated Irena Pavlovic in the first round to win her first-ever Grand Slam main draw match.) The winner of the Har-Tru USTA Pro Circuit Wild Card Challenge was determined similarly to this US Open wild card system by the player who accumulated the greatest number of WTA ranking points at USTA Pro Circuit clay-court events.

As a junior player, Rogers won the USTA Girls’ 18s National Championships to earn a wild card into the main draw of the 2010 US Open for her first appearance in a Grand Slam (in the either main draw or the juniors). She lives in Boca Raton, Fla., and trains at the USTA National Training Center – Headquarters and is ranked a career-high No. 133 in the world.

The current standings are as follows:

Men’s USTA Pro Circuit US Open Wild Card Update*

Player Name

Binghamton, N.Y.

($50,000)

Lexington, Ky.

($50,000)

Vancouver, B.C.

($100,000)

$100K Aptos

($100,000)

Total Points

1. Alex Kuznetsov

2. Bradley Klahn

3. Tennys Sandgren

4. Austin Krajicek

5. Rhyne Williams

6. Mitchell Krueger

*The men’s wild card will be awarded from the best combined results in two of the four events above.

Women’s USTA Pro Circuit US Open Wild Card Update *

Player Name

Yakima, Wash.

($50,000)

Portland, Ore.

($50,000)

Lexington, Ky.

($50,000)

Best Two Results

1. Shelby Rogers

102

2. Nicole Gibbs

3. Alison Riske

4. Grace Min

5. Sachia Vickery

*Shelby Rogers clinched the women’s wild card.

The USTA first used this format for its 2012 French Open wild cards, won by Melanie Oudin and Brian Baker, who each advanced to the second round at last year’s French Open and subsequently broke into the Top 100. The USTA also used this format to grant a men’s and women’s main draw wild card into the 2012 US Open, which was won by Steve Johnson and Mallory Burdette, who both reached the third round of the US Open, as well as the 2013 French Open, which was won by Alex Kuznetsov and Shelby Rogers.

The remaining men’s events will be streamed live on www.procircuit.usta.com. Vancouver takes place this week and Aptos will be held next week.