TALLAHASSEE, April 19, 2018
The USTA announced that JC Aragone, 22, of Yorba Linda, CA, and Aziz Dougaz, 21, of La Marsa, Tunisia have been awarded wild card entries into the singles main draw of the 2018 Tallahassee Tennis Challenger. This $75,000 USTA Pro Circuit men’s event will take place April 21-28 at the Forestmeadows Athletic Center in Tallahassee.
Aragone is currently ranked No. 334 in the world and enters Tallahassee fresh off a $25,000 futures title in Calabasas, CA. In his run to the singles title, Aragone did not drop a set and saw his ATP ranking rise nearly 37 spots. The University of Virginia graduate helped lead the Cavaliers to three straight NCAA Tournament championships (2015-2017) and was named ACC Tournament MVP twice.
In August 2017, Aragone received a wild card into qualifying for the US Open where he defeated Marco Cecchinato, Ricardo Bellotti, and Akira Santillan, to book a spot in the main draw. In the first round he was defeated by eventual finalist Kevin Anderson, 3-6, 1-6, 3-6. Dougaz, a junior at Florida State University, is currently ranked No. 677 in the world. He joined the Seminoles in January 2016 and went 18-9 in singles during his first season. In 2018, he is 16-4 in singles and 10-7 in doubles for the season. On April 15 he recorded his fourth collegiate ranked win of the season after defeating Alex Lebedev of Notre Dame.
“We are excited to have the #1 singles player at FSU playing in the tournament as a wild card for the
second year in a row,” said Tournament Director Karen Vogter. “He will be a crowd favorite for sure and we hope to see the Tallahassee community come out and support him.”
Dougaz represented Tunisia in Davis Cup play in 2017 and 2018. He holds four futures doubles titles on the ITF Pro Circuit with his most recent title coming in June 2017. As a junior, Dougaz reached the quarterfinals of the Wimbledon Championships Boys’ Doubles event in 2015 and also competed at the junior events of the French Open and Australian Open. Proceeds from the tournament benefit the Vogter Neuro-Intensive Care Unit at Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare, which cares for patients of all ages who suffer neurological trauma or require surgical intervention for life threatening illnesses. Contributions from ticket sales are donated to the Maria Yealdhall Challenger Tennis Fund at the Tallahassee Friends of Our Parks Foundation. This endowment aims to improve the Tallahassee tennis community.
