BINGHAMTON, July 14, 2017
The United States Tennis Association (USTA) announced the main draw for the 24th Levene Gouldin & Thompson (LG&T) Tennis Challenger, a $75,000 USTA Pro Circuit event held at Binghamton’s Recreation Park, July 22-30. A two-day qualifying tournament will begin on Saturday, July 22, deciding the final four spots in the singles main draw.
The tournament is the seventh USTA Pro Circuit men’s challenger event of the 2017 season. The LG&T Challenger is once again part of the US Open Wild Card Challenge, which awards a men’s wild card into the US Open in August based on results over a five-week span at select tournaments. The Challenger also features a 16-team doubles tournament.
Australian Jordan Thompson, who is currently ranked No. 86 in the world, is the highest-ranked player of the 22 men who received direct acceptance into the 32-player main draw. The 23-year old Thompson was runner-up in his last ATP Challenger event in Surbiton, United Kingdom in early July. Over the past two years he has played in all four major tournaments advancing to the second round of the French and Australian Opens. Thirty-two players will compete in the qualifying tournament July 22-23 for four additional berths. The tournament organizers and the USTA will also award wild card entries to complete the field.
Tennys Sandgren enters the tournament with the highest ranking (No. 100) among the group of seven US-Americans who received bids into the main draw. The 25-year-old from Gallatin, Tennessee secured his second ATP Challenger Tour title at the Tempe event this past February. The six other US-Americans in the field are Michael Mmoh (No. 185), Noah Rubin (No.186), Dennis Kudla (No. 191), Kevin King (No. 293), Daniel Nguyen (No. 296) and Marcos Giran (No. 304). All of the 22 players who earned direct acceptance into the main draw are ranked among the top 310 in the world.
Binghamton University men’s tennis player Kushaan Nath will compete in the qualifying rounds during the opening weekend of competition. The rising sophomore from Delhi, India was ranked as high as No. 14 in India for 18 year-olds and won a singles title at the Junior ITF event in Guwahati in 2014. In his first season with the Bearcats, Nath compiled an overall record of 25-14 competing as the No. 2 or No. 3 singles player.
The Levene Gouldin & Thompson Tennis Challenger features 32 singles players and a 16-team doubles field.
Thetournament is held at Recreation Park, 73 Beethoven Street in Binghamton. Admission to the tournament is free July 22-23, and $3 July 24-28 and $6 July 29-30. Tournament passes are available for $25. For tickets or sponsorship information, visit binghamtonchallenger.com.
Entry List
1 Jordan Thompson (AUS) 86
2 Tennys Sandgren (USA) 106
3 Alexander Bublik (KAZ) 135
4 Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) 184
5 Michael Mmoh (USA) 185
6 Samuel Groth (AUS) 188
7 Denis Kudla (USA) 191
8 Noah Rubin (USA) 193
9 Akira Santillan (JPN) 197
10 Andrew Whittington (AUS) 211
11 Cameron Norrie (GBR) 221
12 Blaz Rola (SLO) 245
13 Ze Zhang (CHN) 252
14 Omar Jasika (AUS) 273
15 Edan Leshem (ISR) 288
16 Kevin King (USA) @293
17 Daniel Nguyen (USA) 296
18 Joao Pedro Sorgi (BRA) 299
19 Dayne Kelly (AUS) 302
20 Marcos Giron (USA) 304
21 Alex Bolt (AUS) 306
22 Alejandro Falla (COL) 307*-*
