ONKAPARINGA, December 16, 2016

Defending champion and world No.76 Taylor Fritz of the United States is set to headline the City of Onkaparinga Tennis Challenger 2017 which will also feature the strongest line-up in the event’s history with 24 players from inside the world’s top 200.

Former junior world No.1, Fritz enjoyed outstanding results in his first year travelling full time on the ATP World Tour, becoming the youngest player in the 2016 year-end top 100. In February, the 19-year-old reached his first ATP final in Memphis in just his third tour-level event.

2016 was quite a year for Fritz with a wedding, career-high ranking of 53 and topping off with the ATP World Tour Star of Tomorrow Award. The ATP NextGen star will be the one to watch when main draw play gets under way at Happy Valley Tennis Club on 2 January.

Joining Fritz will be world No.88 and fellow US-American Donald Young, world No.91 Santiago Giraldo from Colombia and world No.113 Lukas Rosol of the Czech Republic.

Young has previously been ranked as high as No.38, won eight career Challenger titles and twice reached the fourth round of the US Open. Young has also made two appearances for the US-American Davis Cup team in 2014 and 2015.

Former world No.28, Giraldo holds eight career Challenger titles and is a stalwart in the Colombian Davis Cup team, having played in 23 ties over his career.

Rosol rose to fame at Wimbledon in 2012 with a five-set win over then world No.2, Rafael Nadal. A former world No.26, Rosol holds two ATP and eight Challenger titles to his name.

The 24 direct acceptances will be joined by four wildcards and four qualifiers. Qualifying begins Saturday 31 December.

For most players, the City of Onkaparinga Tennis Challenger will form the final step in their preparation for Australian Open 2017 held in Melbourne from Monday 16 January.

“We are obviously thrilled to have such a strong field of players planning on competing in the City of Onkaparinga Tennis Challenger 2017,” Tennis SA CEO Steven Baldas said.

“This is the strongest field of players we have been able to announce in the event’s history and is set to offer the local community the opportunity to watch world class tennis right in their backyard.

“The countdown to the event is on, with Happy Valley Tennis Club and tournament staff in final preparations for the tournament starting on 31 December,” Baldas added.

City of Onkaparinga Tennis Challenger 2017
Player acceptance list as at 13 December 2016