ORLANDO, Janauary 1, 2019 (Press Release)

The inaugural Orlando Open, a USTA Pro Circuit ATP Challenger event, began Monday at the USTA National Campus.

The tournament is the first USTA Pro Circuit ATP Challenger event of the 2019 season and will be the highest level of tennis on display to date at the USTA National Campus, with a prize-money pool of more than $54,000. The campus has previously hosted a number of $15,000- and $25,000-level USTA Pro Circuit events. The Orlando Open is a hard-court tournament and will be played at the campus’ 12-court Collegiate Center.

The singles main draw features 14 Americans, including Mitchell Krueger, the tournament’s No. 2 seed, who made his Grand Slam debut at the 2018 US Open and is an Orlando resident who trains at the USTA National Campus. Other seeded Americans include JC Aragone, Dennis Novikov, and Kevin King, all of whom have first-round byes.

Five Americans were awarded main draw wild cards, including Sam Riffice, a 19-year-old freshman at the University of Florida who has trained at the USTA National Campus as a junior, and TCU senior Alex Rybakov, who earned his wild card by winning the Blizzard Wild Card Challenge earlier this month at the USTA National Campus.