RICKY DIMON EXPLAINS THE U.S. OPEN TENNIS WILD CARDS GIVEN TO DEL POTRO AND TO TIAFOE, RAM, AND FRATANGELO AND MORE

Written by: Staff on 16th August 2016

RICKY DIMON EXPLAINS THE U.S. OPEN TENNIS WILD CARDS GIVEN TO DEL POTRO AND TO TIAFOE, RAM, AND FRATANGELO AND MORE |

Photo by Alejandro Gonzalez

By Ricky Dimon

If there had been any doubts about Juan Martin Del Potro’s U.S. Open status, his amazing run to the silver medal at the Rio Olympics erased all of it. As expected, Del Potro was on the wild-card list released by the tournament on Tuesday afternoon.

At No. 141 in the world due to recurring wrist injuries, the 27-year-old Argentine obviously failed to make it inside the direct-entry cut line for the year’s final Grand Slam. He also used up all of his protected-ranking entries earlier in the season. But Del Potro has nothing to worry about for the U.S. Open–and probably not for any tournament he wants to play the rest of the year.

What happened in Rio certainly helped. The 2009 U.S. Open champion shocked Novak Djokovic in the opening round and ended up defeating Nadal in the semis before succumbing to Andy Murray in the gold-medal match.

Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina in action against Andy Murray of Great Britain during men’s singles gold medal match of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games Tennis events at the Olympic Tennis Centre in the Olympic Park in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 14 August 2016. EPA/MICHAEL REYNOLDS

Joining Del Potro with wild cards into the main draw of the U.S. Open will be Frances Tiafoe, Bjorn Fratangelo, Rajeev Ram, Michael Mmoh, Mackenzie McDonald, and Ernesto Escobedo.

Ram is coming off a silver medal-winning performance in mixed doubles with Venus Williams. The 32-year-old American reached a career-high of No. 56 in the world in singles a few months ago but is currently No. 103 and just barely missed the U.S. Open’s direct-entry cut. Fratangelo, who took a set off Djokovic at the Indian Wells earlier this season, has played in the main draw of previous three Grand Slams in 2016. Tiafoe, 18, is the third youngest player in the top 200.

McDonald, Mmoh, and Escobedo all won their wild cards. McDonald, 21, of Piedmont, Calif., won the 2016 NCAA men’s singles championship as a junior at UCLA and has since turned pro (currently ranked 416th). He went 84-15 in singles over three years with the Bruins and was a three-time ITA All-American. Mmoh, 18, of Bradenton, Fla., won the USTA Boys’ 18s National Championship in Kalamazoo. He was once the second-ranked junior boy in the world. Escobedo, 20, is ranked No. 207 and snagged his wild card by virtue of winning the USTA Pro Circuit U.S. Open Wild Card Challenge.

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand.

Topics: 10sballs.com, Bjorn Fratangelo, Ernesto Escobedo, Frances Tiafoe, Juan Martin Del Potro, Mackenzie McDonald, Michael Mmoh, Rajeev Ram, Ricky Dimon, Rio Olympics, Sports, Tennis News, U.S. Open

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pjmtz2 says:

August 16, 2016 at 2:22 pm

RT @10sBalls_com: Ricky Dimon Explains The #USOpen #Tennis Wild Cards Given To Del Potro, Tiafoe, Ram, & More
https://t.co/fyozI8VkA2 https…
loveyjergens says:

August 16, 2016 at 5:19 pm

RT @10sBalls_com: Ricky Dimon Explains The #USOpen #Tennis Wild Cards Given To Del Potro, Tiafoe, Ram, & More
https://t.co/fyozI8VkA2 https…