BINGHAMTON, July 8, 2019 (Press Release)
The USTA announced that Marcel Granollers of Barcelona, Spain will headline the competitors for the 2019 Levene Gouldin & Thompson (LG&T) Tennis Challenger, a USTA Pro Circuit & ATP Challenger 80 event, hosted at Recreation Park, July 22-28.
The tournament is the 11th USTA Pro Circuit men’s Challenger event of the 2019 season. It is the second US Challenger tournament this is a part of the US Open Wild Card Challenge. These events are held on hard courts to help develop players on the surface leading up to the 2019 US Open. There are two USTA Pro Circuit men’s events (ITF World Tennis Tour events and Challengers combined) currently scheduled to take place in the USTA Eastern Section in 2019.
Currently No. 105, Granollers is the highest-ranked of the 40 men who received direct acceptance into the 48-player main draw. Four players will compete in the qualifying tournament July 22, for two other berths. The local tournament organizers and the USTA will also award wild card entries to complete the field.
The 33-year-old has claimed four ATP Tour titles in his career, with his most recent coming in August 2013 in Austria. The Spaniard reached a career-high ranking of No. 19 in the world in 2012 and has recorded wins over six top ten players including Andy Murray, James Blake, and David Ferrer.
Granollers is also an accomplished doubles player, reaching the finals in 2014 with Marc Lopez at Roland Garros and the US Open. He holds 16 career doubles titles on the ATP Tour and was also the doubles champion at the LG&T Tennis Challenger in 2018.
He holds 29 ATP Challenger Tour titles overall (seven in singles, 22 in doubles).
Joining Granollers in the main draw is 2017 Antalya Open champion Yuichi Sugita, 23-year-old Thanasi Kokkinakis, and seven-time Challenger singles titlist James Duckworth. Next Gen ATP Finals contenders JJ Wolf, Sebastian Korda, Max Purcell, Jannick Sinner, Roy Smith, Duckhee Lee, and Stefan Kozlov are also expected to compete.
Admission to the LG&T Tennis Challenger is $3 daily July 22-25 and $6 daily July 26-28. A tournament pass is available for $25 and student tickets are also available at a discounted price. All tickets can be purchased at the gate.
The official player acceptance list is subject to change and can be viewed here.
