USTA's Australian Open Wild Card Challenge Begins this Week for Women in Macon; Las Vegas Challenger, Waco Futures Underway

After a week with just two $25,000 tournaments, the USTA Pro Circuit returns to more significant competition this week, particularly for the women.  Their $80,000 tournament in Macon Georgia is the first event in the USTA's Australian Open Wild Card Challenge, and that has led to a American-dominated field, with 18 US women, including six of the eight seeds.  Madison Brengle and Jessica Pegula are the top two seeds, with Claire Liu[4], Kristie Ahn[5](Stanford), Nicole Gibbs[6](Stanford), and wild card Christina McHale[8] also seeded. There is a chance the number of Americans could swell to 22, and 20 is guaranteed, with six US women advancing to the final round of qualifying. Sixteen-year-old Hailey Baptiste will face Hanna Chang and Sanaz Marand(UNC) will play Joelle Kissell in all-American final round qualifying matches, while Louisa Chirico and Julia Elbaba(Virginia) face off against international opponents.  In addition to McHale, the only other wild card went to former Alabama star Alexa Guarachi of Chile.

This is the first tournament in a four-week stretch that will decide the Australian Open reciprocal wild card. The next three tournaments are in Tyler Texas, Las Vegas Nevada, and Houston Texas, with the best three results determining the wild card. The Oracle-sponsored event in Houston is part of the WTA's 125 series, while the other three are $80,000 tournaments.

Although not a part of the Wild Card Challenge, $60,000 ITF Women's Circuit tournament in Quebec is on this week's schedule, and it also draws a cohort of Americans. Nine US women are in the main draw, including three who qualified today: Hayley Carter(UNC), Kennedy Shaffer(Georgia) and Jessica Ho(Duke). Carter and Ho will face each other in the first round, while Shaffer plays Amra Sadikovic of Switzerland. The fourth qualifier is 15-year-old Dasha Lopatetskaya of Ukraine, who reached the semifinals of the US Open Junior Championships last month. Lopatetskaya, who won two $15,000 ITF Women's Circuit tournaments this summer and has yet to lose a match on the Pro Circuit, didn't drop a set in her three qualifying wins. She faces No. 4 seed Naomi Broady of Great Britain in the first round of the main draw. The top seed is Kateryna Kozlova of Ukraine, with Conny Perrin of Switzerland the No. 2 seed.

After a week when the only ATP Challenger in North America was in Canada, Challenger competition return to the United States with a $50,000+H tournament in Las Vegas.  Two Americans qualified for the main draw today, with 2017 NCAA champion Thai Kwiatkowski, the No. 8 seed, defeating top seed Jelle Sells of the Netherlands 6-4, 7-6(6), and No. 4 seed Tommy Paul beating No. 6 seed Alex Sarkissian(Pepperdine) 6-3, 6-3. Evan King lost in the final round of qualifying, but earned entry as a lucky loser, as did Sarkissian.  Main draw play also began today, with wild card JJ Wolf(Ohio State) falling to No. 2 seed Adrian Menendez-Maceiras of Spain 6-3, 6-3, and No. 5 seed Noah Rubin eliminated by 2013 NCAA champion Blaz Rola of Slovenia 6-3, 1-6, 6-3.  Lloyd Harris of South Africa is the top seed.

The men's USTA Australian Open Wild Card Challenge doesn't begin until next week and will span just three weeks, but it includes tournaments outside the United States.

The Futures Circuit in Texas moves to Waco this week, with a $25,000 tournament there. Qualifying concluded today, with Baylor sophomore Kyrylo Tsygura, 15-year-old Zachary Svajda and former Rice standout Jonathan Chang earning spots in the main draw. Top seed Ronnie Schneider(UNC) won his first round match today against Aron Hiltzik(Illinois) 6-3, 6-4, but No. 2 seed Sebastian Korda, the 2018 Australian Open boys champion, lost to Georgia recruit Trent Bryde 1-6, 6-3, 6-4.  Korda, 18, has won only one match on the Pro Circuit since beating Dennis Novikov in the first round of the US Open men's qualifying in August.  Other American seeds losing today were No. 6 Jordi Arconada(Texas A&M), No. 7 Henry Craig(Denver) and No. 8 DJ Thomas.