[MIBgirlsXXL]

The USTA is hosting a playoff this week to award a men’s and a women’s singles main draw wild card to the 2009 French Open. The men’s wild card tournament will take place on the clay courts of the Boca West Country Club in Boca Raton, Fla., April 28-30. The women’s wild card tournament will be held April 29-May 2 at the same location. The USTA and the French Tennis Federation have a reciprocal agreement in which wild card entries into the main draw at the 2009 French Open and 2009 US Open are exchanged.

Eight players are scheduled to compete for the men’s wild card: John Isner, 24, of Tampa, Fla.; Scoville Jenkins, 22, of Atlanta; Evan King, 17, of Chicago; Jesse Levine, 21 of Boca Raton, Fla.; Michael McClune, 19, of Irvine, Calif.; Nathan Pasha, 16, of Atlanta; Rhyne Williams, 18, of Knoxville, Tenn.; and Donald Young, 19, of Atlanta.

Eleven players will compete for the women’s wild card: Kristie Ahn, 16, of Upper Saddle River, N.J.; Gail Brodsky, 17, of Brooklyn, N.Y.; Beatrice Capra, 17, of Ellicott City, Md.; Lauren Embree, 18, of Marco Island, Fla.; Nicole Gibbs, 16, of Manhattan Beach, Calif.; Madison Keys, 14, of Boca Raton, Fla.; Christine McHale, 16, of Englewood Cliffs, N.J.; Asia Muhammad, 18, of Henderson, Nev.; Sloane Stephens, 16, of Fresno, Calif.; Stacey Tan, 17, of Lakewood, Calif.; and CoCo Vandeweghe, 17, of Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.

Both tournaments will be in a knock-out format, the seedings of which will be determined by today’s ATP World Tour and Sony Ericsson WTA rankings.

Isner and McHale won similar events last December to earn main draw wild cards into the 2009 Australian Open.


http://www.usta.com/Global/Pro_Tenni...ournament.aspx

[soprofaxelbis]

I'm surprised Isner needs a WC actually.

My money is on Jesse Levine

[Maserati]

I'm surprised Isner needs a WC actually.

Isner and Young have both been ranked in the top 100 for a good stretch of time, and didn't suffer any kind of injury to get knocked out. I don't think either of them should be eligible for a WC playoff. There should be a "it's your own fault; deal with it" clause.

[freddystone]

Isner and Young have both been ranked in the top 100 for a good stretch of time, and didn't suffer any kind of injury to get knocked out. I don't think either of them should be eligible for a WC playoff. There should be a "it's your own fault; deal with it" clause.

But even if they don't win the playoff, either will probably get a wildcard into the main draw; if not that, at least the qualifying. Most of the folks on this list will probably get wildcards into the main draw.

I have a hard time understanding the point of these types of things when you're talking about home-born players trying to get into a home major. Most of them are going to get into the main draw anyway...

[slarceSelia]

I have a hard time understanding the point of these types of things when you're talking about home-born players trying to get into a home major. Most of them are going to get into the main draw anyway...

It's for RG, no?

[freddystone]

It's for RG, no?

D'oh!

So then it's a waste of time!

[Maserati]

But even if they don't win the playoff, either will probably get a wildcard into the main draw; if not that, at least the qualifying. Most of the folks on this list will probably get wildcards into the main draw.

I have a hard time understanding the point of these types of things when you're talking about home-born players trying to get into a home major. Most of them are going to get into the main draw anyway...

It's for RG, no?

But if this were for the USO, I'd agree!

[Quick$bux]

Scoville won 4 matches at Houston - 3 rounds of qualies (which included beating Donald Young in straight sets), and a main draw match over Peya, before losing a close match to Phau. Be nice to see him come through this playoff. The couple of times I saw him play, I really liked what I saw.

[DeilMikina]

Scoville won 4 matches at Houston - 3 rounds of qualies (which included beating Donald Young in straight sets), and a main draw match over Peya, before losing a close match to Phau. Be nice to see him come through this playoff. The couple of times I saw him play, I really liked what I saw.

Jenkins has made impressions on the ATP before, including at the USO. He seems to suffer from inconsistency, lack of support from the USTA, or both.

[aLZ9zKsO]

But if this were for the USO, I'd agree!

For the AO, the Australian did both playoff and discretionary WC for their players.

[Penisvergroesserung]

When is Donald gonna dump his parents as managers/coaches and get on with his career?

[bxxasxxa]

Jenkins has made impressions on the ATP before, including at the USO. He seems to suffer from inconsistency, lack of support from the USTA, or both.

We've seen Scoville play a couple of times in Winnetka.

I'd love to see this guy succeed. He's got all the talent in the world. Unfortunately, in addition to what you've mentioned, he is also the type of hot-head who can get discouraged with his own play VERY quickly.

[MIBgirlsXXL]

Quarterfinals - Men

Jesse Levine beat Evan King 6-1; 3-6; 6-2
Donald Young beat Rhyne Williams 7-5; 3-6; 6-2
Johb Isner beat Nathan Pasha 6-2; 6-0
Scoville Jenkins beat Michael McClune 3-6; 6-0; 6-0

Semifinal Results - Men

John Isner beat Scoville Jenkins 6-3; 7-6(1)
Jesse Levine beat Donald Young 6-1; 6-3

[soprofaxelbis]

Perfect results! I hope which ever of them doesn't get the WC gets a good qualie draw.

[PyncGyncliacy]

You know you're a tennis fan if you know what 7 of them look like.


Go, John!

[ManituIKOL]

Go Johb! Hope he can finish it off by taking down Levine.

[nancywind]

Go Johb! Hope he can finish it off by taking down Levine.

I'd laugh if the first anything Jesse's won all year is a wild card play-off into a grand slam.

[MIBgirlsXXL]

Today's order of play

Court 1 10a

John Isner v Jesse Levine

Kristie Ahn vs Stacey Tan

Coco Vandeweghe vs Lauren Embree

Court 2 10a

Sloane Stephens vs Gail Brodsky

Christine McHale vs Nicole Gibbs

[Quick$bux]

Today's order of play

Court 1 10a

Coco Vandeweghe vs Lauren Embree

I'm curious how Coco is on clay. She's a big girl. Wonder if she is more like Ivanovic or Davenport?

[soprofaxelbis]

I'm curious how Coco is on clay. She's a big girl. Wonder if she is more like Ivanovic or Davenport?

Or Akgul?