News

NEWPORT, R.I. — Just after Wimbledon, the ATP World Tour returns to the United States for the summer, with the first stop being the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships in Newport, Rhode Island, where the top six American players on the tour are all committed to the field. The tournament, which is the only grass court pro tournament in North America, will be played July 5 – 13 at the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

“We have a strong player field set for Newport in July,” said Tournament Director Mark Stenning. “It’s always nice to kick off the U.S. summer swing with the top Americans here in Newport just after the Fourth of July. We look forward to welcoming many exciting international tennis stars as well. After watching the excitement of Wimbledon on television these next couple of weeks, the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships offers a great opportunity to see grass court tennis in person and we look forward to welcoming the fans to enjoy a great week of tennis in Newport.”

Headlining the American contingent is No. 1 American John Isner, a fan favorite in Newport who counts two Hall of Fame Tennis Championships victories (2012 and 2011) among his eight career titles. Isner is currently ranked world No. 11 on the ATP World Tour and goes into Wimbledon next week as the No. 9 seed.

Steve Johnson, who was the NCAA Singles Champion in 2011 and 2012 when playing for University of Southern California, and Bradley Klahn, 2010 NCAA Singles Champion from Stanford, will both be making their main draw debuts in Newport. Johnson and Klahn are currently ranked in the world top-75 and have posted big wins over top-30 players in the past two years while climbing the rankings. Donald Young, who recently upset world No. 27 Feliciano Lopez to advance to the third round at the French Open will return to Newport as well. After playing on grass courts for the first time in Newport in 2012, Jack Sock will be back for a third consecutive year. The 21-year-old is currently ranked No. 75 after an impressive run into the third round of the French Open, including a first round upset over world No. 22 Nicolas Almagro. Newport veteran Sam Querrey, will be back for his sixth appearance at the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships, where he was a finalist in 2009. Querrey’s grass court season is off to a strong start. Earlier this month he advanced to the round of 16 at the Aegon Championships at Queen’s Club, and today, he is playing in the semifinals at the Aegon International at Eastbourne.

Ryan Harrison and Tim Smyczek, who have both had success in Newport in past years will also return to Newport in July. Harrison won the Newport doubles title in 2011 with Australian Matt Ebden, who is also committed to play Newport again. Smyczek was a doubles finalist last year, with partner Rhyne Williams.

Joining the Americans in Newport will be defending champion Nicolas Mahut of France, former world top-10 player Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus, big serving Croatian Ivo Karlovic, who is currently ranked world No. 33, and his countryman Ivan Dodig, who is ranked world No. 38, and two popular Australians – former world No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt and rising star Nick Kyrgios.

Mahut will return to Newport after a championship sweep last year in which he had a dream run from wild card entry to winning the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships singles and doubles titles. Both Karlovic and Hewitt have seen great success in Newport in recent years, with Karlovic in the quarterfinals last year and Hewitt advancing to the finals in 2013 and 2012. Baghdatis, Kyrgios, and Dodig, all newcomers to Newport, will bring a lot of excitement to the draw. Baghdatis is an ATP World Tour veteran known for high energy matches. Last weekend, Kyrgios jumped 28 spots in the ATP World Tour rankings after winning the Nottingham Challenger, making him the youngest player in the world top-150.

Tournament tickets are available on HallofFameTennisChampionships.com or by phone at 401-849-6053. Hall of Fame Members save $5 on tickets, and enjoy many other benefits throughout tournament week, including access to a Member Lounge, first-in-line status for autographs, and much more.