2013/06/20

Nalbandian and Harrison given Wild Cards into Winston-Salem Open

Ryan Harrison

Winston-Salem Open tournament director Bill Oakes announced on Friday morning that Ryan Harrison and David Nalbandian have joined the Winston-Salem Open field as the final wildcards.

 

Harrison, 20, is ranked No. 58 in the ATP World Tour rankings, after starting the year at No. 79. Harrison has been as high as No. 43 in July.

 

“Ryan is an exciting young player with a world of talent,” Oakes said. “Just as Winston-Salem tennis fans saw Andy Roddick and James Blake grow up before their very eyes when they played here in previous tournaments, we’re fortunate to be able to watch Ryan’s career unfold at the Winston-Salem Open.”

 

Harrison also came to the Winston-Salem Open last year as a wildcard. He beat Victor Hanescu in the first round but lost to Pierre-Ludovic Duclos in the second round.

 

Harrison, a native of Shreveport, La., came onto the scene at age 15 when he competed in the 2007 U.S. Clay Courts Championships in Houston. He beat Pablo Cuevas in the first round, making him one of only 10 players in tennis history to win an ATP World Tour match before his 16th birthday and the first since Rafael Nadal.

 

This year, he has reached the semifinals of three tournaments – San Jose, Eastbourne and Newport. He also won a match for the U.S. Davis Cup team in its first-round upset victory over Switzerland.

 

While Harrison is still looking for his first ATP World Tour singles title, he owns two doubles crowns. He teamed with Matthew Ebden to win at Atlanta earlier this summer and also won with Ebden at Newport last year.

 

Nalbandian, currently ranked No. 39 in the latest ATP rankings, replaces Gael Monfils, who initially took a wildcard but was forced to pull out on Thursday because of lingering knee problems. Nalbandian gives the tournament 24 players who are currently in the Top 50.

 

“We are very pleased to have David join what was already an outstanding field,” Oakes said. “David has been a Top Ten player for two extended periods in his career, and he has had some outstanding tournaments this year. He’s always a fun player to watch.”

 

The 30-year-old Argentine and 2002 Wimbledon runner-up reached as high as World No. 3 in 2006. He’s an all-court player who is considered to have one of the best returns of serve on the ATP World Tour.

 

He owns 11 career ATP World Tour singles titles, including two Masters series events, and has reached the finals of 12 other tournaments. Nalbandian’s first wins came in 2002 at Basel and Estoril, and his most recent title came in 2010 in Washington.  He has reached the semifinals of all four Grand Slam tournaments at various points in his career.

 

Nalbandian reached the finals at London Queens Club earlier this year before losing to Marin Cilic in the finals. He also has reached the semifinals in Buenos Aires and Belgrade. His most-impressive performance, though, may have been in reaching the quarterfinals at Indian Wells, as he beat Cilic, Janko Tipsarevic and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in succession before losing to Rafael Nadal.

 

Nalbandian and Harrison join James Blake and No. 7 Tomas Berdych as the tournament’s wildcard entries.

 

The Winston-Salem Open begins with qualifying on Saturday at the Wake Forest Tennis Center, with the 48-player Main Draw to start on Sunday.

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Monfils pulls out of Winston-Salem Open

 

Gael Monfils’ comeback from a knee injury won’t start at the Winston-Salem Open after all.

 

The 25-year-old Frenchman informed tournament director Bill Oakes that he will be unable to compete in the second annual tournament, which starts with qualifying on Saturday and the Main Draw on Sunday at the Wake Forest Tennis Complex.

 

Monfils hasn’t played competitively since May because of an injured right knee, and he was hoping to make his return to the ATP World Tour at the Winston-Salem Open. Unfortunately, he has suffered another setback in his rehabilitation.

 

“We are sorry to announce that Gael has withdrawn from our tournament due to reactivating an injury,” Oakes said. “He is a great player, and we wish him the best in his recovery. We were all anxious for Gael to come to Winston-Salem because he’s one of the most exciting and charismatic players on the tour. But we still have an outstanding field, and Gael’s withdrawal will give one more player the opportunity to make a name for himself.”

 

Monfils, who reached as high as No. 7 in the ATP rankings last year, had dropped to No. 35 currently because of his recent inactivity. He has four ATP World Tour titles and 13 other runner-up finishes.

 

Monfils’ withdrawal leaves the Winston-Salem Open with three of the Top 10 players in the current ATP rankings and 23 of the Top 50.

 

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The Winston-Salem Open Announces Player Field

The Winston-Salem Open at Wake Forest University on Tuesday announced  the player field for the tournament taking place August 18-25, 2012.   As of today’s announcement, 38 of the 48 slots have been filled in the men’s singles competition through the ATP’s tournament acceptance process plus James Blake as the first wild card player.

 

According to the ATP, the 39 players slated to compete to the Winston-Salem Open are all ranked in the top 68 in the world.  By comparison, last year’s players ranked in the top 81.  Twenty-two of the players competing in the Winston-Salem Open are ranked among the ATP top 50.  The tournament will add 9 additional players through additional wild cards and several slots that will be determined from qualifying play prior to the tournament. There will be an additional field of 16 doubles teams to be named closer to the tournament.

 

“With the exception of perhaps one other tournament, the Winston-Salem Open has the strongest field of contenders of any tennis tournament in America this summer. The work that everyone associated with the Winston-Salem Open did last year really has paid off,” said tournament director Bill Oakes.  “We also believe our field of players is exceptionally strong because many of them will want playing time on a surface like ours between competing on Wimbledon’s grass courts during upcoming Olympics and the U.S. Open, which has a surface like the Winston-Salem Open.”

 

“The players who came to Winston-Salem last year loved playing here and loved our city.  Almost immediately after the conclusion of last year’s tournament, several of the players expressed a desire to return in 2012,” he added.  “Our expectations for having a world-class professional tennis tournament in Winston-Salem have been fulfilled this year, and I’m thrilled with the field of players who will be competing next month.  It’s going to be a great event by all measures.”

 

Oakes said that he expects the Winston-Salem Open will draw additional strong players through the wild card and qualifying process.

 

The newly announced players join Kevin Anderson, Julien Benneteau, James Blake, Alexandr Dolgopolov, Marcel Granollers, John Isner, Andy Roddick, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Donald Young who committed earlier this spring and summer.  A complete list of the 38 players accepted to the Winston-Salem Open is attached.

 

Highlights of the player field include:

 

Feliciano Lopez is currently ranked No. 29, after getting as high as No. 15 in January. He is making his second visit to Winston-Salem after playing doubles for Spain in the Davis Cup matches at Joel Coliseum in 2007. He and Fernando Verdasco lost to the Bryan brothers in four sets. Lopez has two career ATP World Tour titles, the latest at Johannesburg in 2010. Lopez reached the fourth round of the Australian Open this year and was a quarterfinalist at Wimbledon last year.

 

Viktor Troicki is best known for winning the decisive point in the final match of the 2010 Davis Cup finals between Serbia and France, giving Serbia its first Davis Cup title.  He also was part of the Serbian team that won the World Team Championship in Dusseldorf earlier this year. Troicki is currently ranked No. 31 after getting as high as No. 12 last June and has one title in Moscow in 2010.

 

Denis Istomin is currently ranked a career-high No. 34, after reaching the fourth round at Wimbledon. He has one of the most-powerful serves in tennis. He reached his first ATP World Tour final earlier this year in San Jose, losing to Milos Raonic. He also reached the fourth round at Indian Wells with a victory over world No. 5 David Ferrer.

 

Pablo Andujar is currently ranked a career-high No. 35. He won the Casablanca title for the second straight year earlier this year and also reached the fourth round at Indian Wells.

 

Jurgen Melzer is currently ranked No. 36, after reaching a career-best No. 8 in April of 2011. He won earlier this year at Memphis and owns four ATP World Tour singles titles. Has also won 12 doubles titles, including the 2011 US Open with Philipp Petzschner. At the time he reached No. 8 in singles, he was the only player on tour to be ranked in the top 10 in both singles and doubles.

 

Carlos Berlocq is currently ranked No. 38, after being a career-high 37 two weeks ago. The Argentine reached his first ATP World Tour final at Vina Del Mar in February, losing to Juan Monaco. He also reached the doubles final at Vina Del Mar.

 

Jarkko Nieminen is currently ranked No. 39, after being as high as No. 13 in 2006. The lefty from Finland got his second career title earlier this year, going through qualifying and eventually beating Julien Benneteau in the finals at Sydney.

 

Marcos Baghdatis is one of the most-entertaining players on the ATP World Tour. He lost to John Isner in the third round of last year’s Winston-Salem Open but said he had a blast here and was one of the first players to commit this year. Currently ranked No. 40, he has been as high as No. 8 back in 2006, the year he reached the finals of the Australian Open. He owns four career singles titles and one doubles title.

 

Robin Haase was a semifinalist at last year’s Winston-Salem Open, losing to Julien Benneteau in a third-set tie-break that was probably the most-exciting match of the tournament. He is currently ranked No. 42. He claimed his first career ATP World Tour title last year at Kitzbuhel.

 

About the Winston-Salem Open

The Winston-Salem Open, an ATP World Tour 250 event with a total purse of $625,000, will take place from August 18-25, 2012, with qualifying set for August 18. The tournament will be the final men’s event of the Emirates Airline US Open Series.  For more information on the 2012 Winston-Salem Open, please go to www.winstonsalemopen.com.

 

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Tsonga, Benneteau and Granollers to play Winston-Salem Open

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Julien Benneteau and Marcel Granollers have signed to compete in the second annual Winston-Salem Open at Wake Forest University. No. 6 ranked Tsonga is the highest ranked player signed to the Winston-Salem Open either this year or last. Bill Oakes, tournament director of the Winston-Salem Open, is at Wimbledon this week and recruited all three players while there.

“These three players join a strong field of contenders who will be competing in Winston-Salem in less than two months,” Oakes said. “We’re particularly thrilled to have Tsonga in the tournament. He has been near the top of the ATP rankings for a while and is hugely popular with fans because of his showmanship and his aggressive, really powerful game.”

Tsonga, 26, is currently ranked No. 6 in the South African Airways ATP rankings and has been as high as No. 5 as recently as last week.

Benneteau, 30, is currently ranked No. 32 after being as high as No. 26 in April. He has won six doubles titles and also reached the singles final at Sydney this year. Benneteau is one of the great stories of the 2011 Winston-Salem Open. He played in nine matches in eight days last year while qualifying before losing to John Isner in the finals. His 3-6, 7-6 (7), 7-6 (6) win over Robin Haase in the semifinals is cited by many observers as the most-exciting match of the 2011 tournament. As a result of his performance in the Winston-Salem Open, Benneteau jumped from No. 113 to No. 81 last August and has continued climbing the rankings since.

Granollers, 26, is currently ranked No. 23 after reaching a career-high No. 22 earlier this year. He holds three ATP World Tour singles titles, including two last year at Valencia and Gstaad, and will play doubles with Rafael Nadal in the 2012 Olympics in London.

The Winston-Salem Open will be held August 18-25, 2012, at the Wake Forest Tennis Complex adjacent to BB&T Field.  www.winstonsalemopen.com

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