Tennis Atlantic

Below is the full press release from the Tennis Center at College Park. See you there.  We like the part about media availability for all players TODAY! Will we be able to tuck them into their hotel beds tonight?

COLLEGE PARK, MD – Three of the four local players in the US Open Wildcard Playoffs, who are competing for main draw singles wildcards into the men’s and women’s draws at the 2011 US Open, have a unique home court advantage when play opens tomorrow at 3 pm at the Junior Tennis Champions Center (JTCC), 5200 Paint Branch Parkway.
 
Ellicott City’s Trice Capra, Annandale’s Mitchell Frank, and Arlington’s Denis Kudla have all trained for years at the USTA Certified Regional Training Center.  In addition, Washington Kastles’ Bobby Reynolds is a local favorite.
 
Schedule of play includes eight first round singles matches on Thursday as follows:
 
 
3:00 pm

Julia Cohen (1)
vs.
Nicole Gibbs (8)

Ashley Weinhold (2)
vs.
Madison Keys (7)

Tennys Sandgren (4)
vs.
Rhyne Williams (5)

5:00 pm

Denis Kudla (2)
vs.
Bjorn Fratangelo (7)

Ahsha Rolle (4)
vs.
Beatrice Capra

(5)Gail Brodsky (3)
vs.
Jessica Pegula (6)

7:00 pm

Bobby Reynolds (1)
vs.
Bradley Klahn (8)

Daniel Kosakowski (3)
vs.
Mitchell Frank (6)

 
Trice Capra is the defending Champion of the US Open Wildcard Playoffs. Last year she reached the third round of the US Open.  Capra is entering Duke University in September.
 
Mitchell Frank is the 2011 USTA Boys’ 18s National Championships finalist.  Frank has recently reached two semifinals and a quarterfinal on the Futures Circuit.  He is the 2010 16 and under Orange Bowl finalist. Frank will attend the University of Virginia in September.
  
Denis Kudla reached the quarterfinals of the 2011 Campbell’s Hall of Fame Tennis Championships in Newport, RI in July.  He is currently ranked #325 and was a US Open Boys’ singles finalist in 2010.
 
Bobby Reynolds, who is the No. 1 seed in the US Open Wildcard Playoff for the men, starred for the Washington Kastles and helped the team complete an undefeated season in 2011 and was selected as World Team Tennis’ Rookie of the Year in 2010. Bobby has achieved a career high ranking of #63 in the world.
 
Four of last season’s top collegians round out the men’s field. Daniel Kosakowski (Huntington Park, CA) turned professional after his freshman year at UCLA and recently won his first Tour-level match at the Farmers Classic in Los Angeles. Tennys Sandgren (Gallatin, TN), a rising junior at the University of Tennessee, recently won back-to-back Futures titles on the USTA Pro Circuit.  Rhyne Williams (Knoxville, TN), the 2011 NCAA singles runner-up for the University of Tennessee, turned pro after winning his second professional title in June at the USTA Pro Circuit Futures in Innisbrook, FL. Bradley Klahn (Poway, CA) won the 2010 NCAA men’s singles title and will be a senior at Stanford this fall.  Bjorn Fratangelo (Plum, PA), who completes the field, is the first American since John McEnroe in 1977 to win the French Open boys’ singles title. 
 
The women’s field includes top-seeded Julia Cohen (Philadelphia, PA), a former All-American for the University of Miami who in May reached the final of an ITF Pro Circuit $25,000 event in Thailand and two former USTA Girls’ 18s National Champions in 2007 champion Ashley Weinhold (Austin, TX), and 2008 champion Gail Brodsky (Brooklyn, NY), as well as two-time USTA Girls’ 18s runner-up Nicole Gibbs (Santa Monica, CA), who as a freshman helped lead Stanford to the final of the 2011 NCAA women’s team championships.  Rounding out the field are Madison Keys (Boca Raton, FL), who won her first professional title in 2010 at the USTA Pro Circuit $10,000 event in Cleveland; Jessica Pegula (Boca Raton, FL), who reached her first professional final in January at the USTA Pro Circuit $25,000 event in Lutz, Fla.; and Ahsha Rolle (Miami Shores, FL), a 10-time champion on the USTA Pro Circuit who reached the third round of the 2007 US Open.
 
Seeding for the event is based on this week’s ATP World Tour and WTA Rankings, and there will be media availability with the players on Wednesday, August 17. For additional information including ticket pricing, please visit www.jtcc.org.