USTA Press Release, August 7, 2017
Eighteen-year old Sofia Kenin, of Pembroke Pines, Fla., clinched a spot in the main draw of the US Open for the third straight year by winning the US Open Wild Card Challenge on Friday, wrapping up her berth at the $60,000 USTA Pro Circuit women’s event in Lexington, Ky. Kenin, one of the youngest players in the Top 200, is now ranked a career-high No. 141.
Kenin wins the US Open Wild Card Challenge for the second straight year on the strength of her results at three $60,000 USTA Pro Circuit over the last several weeks: She won the singles title in Stockton, Calif., two weeks ago, then reached the semifinals in Sacramento and advanced to the final in Lexington. Kenin made her Grand Slam debut at the 2015 US Open after earning a wild card as the USTA Girls’ 18s national champion.
The men’s wild card challenge continued into its fourth week with ATP World Tour events in Washington, D.C., and Los Cabos, as well a $125,000 Challenger in Chengdu, China, a €85,000+H Challenger in Segovia, Spain, and a $75,000 USTA Pro Circuit Challenger in Lexington, Ky.
Tommy Paul, 20, remains in first place in the men’s challenge with 176 points after reaching his second consecutive ATP quarterfinal in Washington D.C. Paul also qualified for and reached the quarterfinals in Atlanta—his first ATP quarterfinal—and advanced to the semifinals of the $75,000 USTA Pro Circuit Challenger in Winnetka, Ill., early last month. Michael Mmoh, who won the title in Lexington this weekend, is in second place.
The men’s US Open Wild Card Challenge concludes this week with the ATP World Tour event in Montreal; a $150,000 Challenger in Jinan, China; a $100,000 USTA Pro Circuit Challenger in Aptos, Calif.; and a €43,000+H Challenger in Portoroz, Slovenia.
The men’s and women’s standings and schedule, as of Aug. 7, can be found here (men’s standings; women’s standings).
USTA Player Development will award a US Open main-draw wild card to the one American man and one American woman who earn the most ATP World Tour and WTA ranking points in a series of hard-court events this summer. The men’s challenge began the week of July 10 and concludes the week of Aug. 7 (this week), while the women’s challenge is complete. The men’s challenge will now include the best three results during the five-week time period. The women’s challenge still consists of the best two results over a three-week period.
