STARNBERG, December 11, 2019
Organizers of the Oracle Challenger Series announced on Tuesday the return of two events to Southern California in early 2020. The third stop of the 2019-2020 series will take place at the Newport Beach Tennis Club on January 27 – February 2. The Indian Wells Tennis Garden will host the final tournament on March 2-8.
The Oracle Challenger Series will be held for a third year and helps up-and-coming US-American players secure both ranking points and prize money in the United States. The two US-American men and two US-American women who accumulate the most points over the course of the Challenger Series receive wild cards into the singles main draws at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. Each tournament is free and open to the public.
At the halfway point of the Challenger Series, Houston champion Marcos Giron is in pole position in the men’s competition. Usue Arconada holds the first place for the women following an impressive showing in New Haven with finals appearances in both singles and doubles. Trailing just behind them are Tommy Paul, the men’s champion in New Haven, and CoCo Vandeweghe, the women’s runner-up in Houston.
The Newport Beach tournament will also feature the Oracle Champions Cup which takes place on Saturday, February 1. Former World No. 1 and 2003 US Open Champion Andy Roddick, 10-time ATP Tour titlist and former World No. 4 James Blake 2004 Olympic silver medalist and six-time ATP Tour singles winner Mardy Fish, as well as 2005 US Open semi-finalist Robby Ginepri headline the one-night tournament. The event consists of two one-set semifinals with the winners meeting in a one-set championship match.
Tickets to the Oracle Champions Cup go on-sale to the general public on Tuesday, December 17. Special VIP packages including play with the pros, special back-stage access and an exclusive player party are also available.