FLUSHING, N.Y., Aug. 16, 2018 – The USTA today announced that the US Open Junior Qualifying Tournament, during which 64 of the world’s top 18-and-under boys and girls tennis players will compete for a chance to play in the US Open Junior Championships, will be held at the Cary Leeds Center for Tennis & Learning in the Bronx August 31-September 1.
The main draw of the US Open Junior Championships runs September 2-9 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y., and will feature tomorrow’s stars from around the world. Four US Open junior singles champions – Andy Murray, Andy Roddick, Lindsay Davenport and Stefan Edberg – have gone on to win the US Open singles title, as did junior finalists Roger Federer, Boris Becker, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Martina Hingis.
The US Open Junior Qualifying Tournament features 32-player singles draws for boys and girls, with eight players on each side advancing to the main draw. The 2018 Boys’ and Girls’ Qualifying fields feature mostly players ranked in the Top 100 of the world junior rankings.
“The US Open Junior Qualifying Tournament features some of the best junior tennis players in the world, and the Cary Leeds Center is a world-class tennis facility,” said US Open Junior Tournament Director Lew Brewer. “Not only does it make a great host for the Qualifying Tournament, but it allows us to offer all of our main-draw juniors more practice time than ever before.”
In June 2015, the $26.5 million Cary Leeds Center for Tennis & Learning opened its doors as the flagship home of New York Junior Tennis & Learning (NYJTL) in the heart of the Bronx. In April 2017, the Cary Leeds Center completed its final phase of construction with the opening of the Pershing Square Stadium, the Victor Kiam Stadium, and the Dalia and Larry Leeds Viewing Bridge. The Cary Leeds Center provides more than 6,000 hours of free tennis court time annually to the community’s under-resourced youth.
“NYJTL believes that life skills gained through tennis and education are the catalyst for long-term achievement and sees the opportunity to work with the USTA in hosting the US Open Junior Qualifying Tournament as a way to introduce tennis and inspire the next generation,” said George Guimaraes, NYJTL CEO & President.
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About New York Junior Tennis & Learning
The mission of New York Junior Tennis & Learning is to develop the character of young people through tennis and education for a lifetime of success on and off the court. Since 1971, NYJTL has changed lives through tennis, education, healthy living, and character development programs. Today, it is the largest youth tennis and education non-profit in the nation, reaching 85,000 K-12 New York City youth. NYJTL celebrates the diversity of the children who participate in every program, providing three million hours of year-round tennis and education programming serving youth from all five New York City boroughs. All NYJTL Community Tennis and Afterschool programs are offered at no cost to participants.
The USTA is the national governing body for the sport of tennis in the U.S. and the leader in promoting and developing the growth of tennis at every level — from local communities to the highest level of the professional game. A not-for-profit organization with more than 655,000 members, it invests 100% of its proceeds in growing the game. It owns and operates the US Open, one of the highest-attended annual sporting events in the world, and launched the US Open Series, linking seven summer WTA and ATP World Tour tournaments to the US Open. In addition, it owns approximately 90 Pro Circuit events throughout the U.S. and selects the teams for the Davis Cup, Fed Cup, Olympic and Paralympic Games. The USTA’s philanthropic entity, the USTA Foundation, provides grants and scholarships in addition to supporting tennis and education programs nationwide to benefit under-resourced youth through the National Junior Tennis & Learning (NJTL) network. For more information about the USTA, go to USTA.com or follow the official accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat.
For more information, contact:
Pat Mitsch, USTA Communications, (914) 656-9021; Mitsch@usta.com.
Joe Ceriello, NYJTL Marketing & Communications, (917) 693-6672; jceriello@nyjtl.org