BINGHAMTON, July 7, 2017
The United States Tennis Association (USTA) announced that Binghamton’s Recreation Park will host the 24th Levene Gouldin & Thompson (LG&T) $75,000 Tennis Challenger, July 24-30. The tournament, a USTA Pro Circuit event, is one of the oldest events on the ATP Challenger Tour.
The Levene Gouldin & Thompson Challenger will once again be part of the US Open Wild Card Challenge.
The USTA will be awarding one men’s singles main draw wild card to the 2017 US Open based on performance in a series of USTA Pro Circuit events. The wild card will be awarded to the American player with the highest total of cumulative singles main draw ATP ranking points from the LG&T Challenger as well as tournaments in Lexington, Kentucky and Aptos, California.
The field for the Levene Gouldin & Thompson Challenger will feature 32 singles players and 16
doubles teams vying for the increased $75,000 prize money. Players ranked as high as No. 50 in the world typically compete in Challenger-level events. The qualifying tournament, beginning July 22, will determine the final four singles players in the field.
The USTA Pro Circuit event also featured a wild-card tournament at the Binghamton Tennis Center, June 9-11, which awarded the champions of the singles and doubles draw a spot in the LG&T Challenger qualifying tournament.
Shane Monroe (Ventnor, NJ) won the 32-player clay-court singles tournament advancing into the qualifying draw at the LG&T Tennis Challenger. Monroe, a rising-senior at Brigham Young University, was a West Coast all-conference selection in 2016. Binghamton University head men’s tennis coach Nicholas Zieziula (Binghamton, NY) and his assistant James Hignett (Cardiff, Wales) won this year’s doubles draw in straight sets, advancing to the qualifying draw at the LG&T Challenger.
Admission to the tournament is free July 20-21, and $3 July 22-28 and $6 July 29-30. Tournament passes are available for $25. For tickets or sponsorship information, visit binghamtonchallenger.com or contact tournament director Laurie Bowen at (607) 754-5952.
