KOSAKOWSKI’S SEMIFINAL IN SARASOTA ENOUGH TO LEAD FOR FRENCH OPEN WILD CARD by Ricky Dimon

Written by: Staff on 22nd April 2014

KOSAKOWSKI'S SEMIFINAL IN SARASOTA ENOUGH TO LEAD FOR FRENCH OPEN WILD CARD by Ricky Dimon |

Daniel Kosakowski

Daniel Kosakowski has the lead for the USTA’s main-draw wild card into the French Open after reaching the semifinals of the Sarasota Challenger. Kosakowski scored straight-set wins over Michael Russell, James McGee, and James Ward before falling to Nick Kyrgios on Saturday.

Whereas the USTA holds a three-day, eight-man tournament in Atlanta to allocate its annual Australian Open wild card, it bases its ticket to Roland Garros on a stretch of three consecutive clay-court Challenger events. The winner will be decided after Savannah, which begins on Monday, and Tallahassee the following week.

In Sarasota, the point system per round went as follows: 8, 18, 35, 60, 100. Less lucrative events in Savannah and Tallahassee award 7, 15, 29, 48, and 80 points.

Kosakowski seemed to be on his way to earning no less than 60 points as a Sarasota finalist, but he could not hold onto a 4-1 lead in the third set over Kyrgios. Instead, Kyrgios won the last five games of the match to prevail 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. The 18-year-old Australian eventually took the title over Filip Krajinovic, 7-6(10), 6-4 on Sunday.

Still, Kosakowski has the lead in part thanks to the futility of his fellow Americans. Rhyne Williams, Tim Smyczek, Alex Kuznetsov, Jarmere Jenkins, Bobby Reynolds, Mac Styslinger, and Sekou Bangoura all lost in the Sarasota first round. No contender other than Kosakowski reached even the second round. Donald Young advanced to the quarterfinals, but he already has direct entry into the French Open.

The Savannah draw features Kosakowski, Smyczek, Kuznetsov (the 2013 wild card winner), Reynolds, Williams, Jenkins, and Robby Ginepri.

Topics: Daniel Kosakowski, French Open, James McGee, James Ward, Michael Russell, Nick Kyrgios, Rhyne Williams, Sarasota, Tim Smyczek, Usta

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10sBalls_com says:

April 22, 2014 at 11:12 am

KOSAKOWSKI’S SEMIFINAL IN SARASOTA ENOUGH TO LEAD FOR FRENCH OPEN WILD CARD by @RD_Tennistalk – http://t.co/GIvPYVOQFG @DanKosakowski
RD_Tennistalk says:

April 22, 2014 at 11:22 am

RT @10sBalls_com: KOSAKOWSKI’S SEMIFINAL IN SARASOTA ENOUGH TO LEAD FOR FRENCH OPEN WILD CARD by @RD_Tennistalk – http://t.co/GIvPYVOQFG @D…