Cincinnati Celebrities Come Out for US Open National Playoffs
Mo Egger and Lindsay Patterson from ESPN 1530 and 700 WLW will compete in the Mixed Doubles Division of the US Open National Playoffs Midwest Sectional Qualifying Tournament beginning June 30.
Mo Egger is the afternoon host on ESPN 1530 and is also heard on 700 WLW. Lindsay Patterson is the show’s producer on both ESPN 1530 and 700 WLW. Both participants are taking tennis lessons leading up to the event at the Five Seasons Sports Club in Cincinnati with Tennis Professional Matt Dektas. Prince Sports has supplied both entrants with new tennis racquets to assist in this endeavor.
The 2012 US Open National Playoff Midwest Sectional Qualifying Tournament will take place from June 30 – July 3 at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason, Ohio. The Lindner Family Tennis Center is home to the 2012 Western and Southern Open.
The US Open National Playoffs will again include both men’s and women’s singles and mixed doubles in 2012. The USTA created the US Open National Playoffs to expand the footprint of the US Open to cities nationwide by providing the opportunity for all players 14 years of age and older to earn a berth into the US Open.
The US Open National Playoffs men’s and women’s singles champions earn a wild card into the US Open Qualifying Tournament, held the week prior to the US Open. The US Open National Playoffs mixed doubles champions receive a main draw wild card into the 2012 US Open. Tournament Director Karen Montavon said, "The participants have the awesome opportunity to play on the same courts that the pro's play on during the Western & Southern Open. Not only
will participants have an opportunity to play center court, but they will also have access to the same locker rooms the players use – it is truly a once in a lifetime opportunity for many of the players."
About the US Open National Playoffs
The US Open National Playoffs begin as a series of sectional qualifying tournaments, held in 13
USTA Sections throughout the country, including Cincinnati. The 13 men’s, women’s and mixed
doubles champions from each sectional qualifying tournament will advance to the US Open
National Playoffs – Men’s Singles, Women’s Singles and Mixed Doubles Championship. All
three tournaments will be held in conjunction with the New Haven Open at Yale, presented by
First Niagara, a US Open Series event. The US Open National Playoffs – Men’s Singles and
Women’s Singles Championship will be held August 17-20. The US Open National Playoffs –
Mixed Doubles Championship will be held August 22-25.
"For the third year, we again expect strong singles and mixed doubles competition among top
junior players, collegians, teaching professionals, ‘weekend warriors,’ and recreational players
to earn their way into the US Open," said Jeff Ryan, US Open National Playoffs Tournament
Director. "The New Haven Open at Yale will also again serve as an ideal host for the
championships, as it is a wonderful setting, never mind extremely convenient, for those winning
players to travel to New York for the US Open."
A total of 1,380 players competed in the 2011 US Open National Playoffs, ranging from
experienced professionals (including former doubles world No. 2 and 2001 Australian Open
mixed doubles champion Ellis Ferreira, two-time ATP singles champion Jeff Tarango, and
former NCAA singles champions Amanda McDowell and Bea Bielik) to recreational players of
all talents and walks of life (including ESPN’s Mike Greenberg, who teamed with six-time US
Open champion Chris Evert in mixed doubles, jewelry store owner and young-adult fiction
writer Shawn Cormier of East Brookfield, Conn., 65-year-old senior USTA League player
Glenn Baxter, of Granbury, Texas, and the teenage brother-sister team of Samantha and
Harrison Adams, who won the USTA Texas Sectional Qualifying Tournament).
In the end, former University of Arkansas All-American Blake Strode, who deferred Harvard
Law School to pursue a pro tennis career, won the US Open National Playoffs men’s title for a
second straight year to earn a wild card into the US Open Qualifying Tournament, where he
reached the second round (also for a second straight year). Teenager Robin Anderson won
the US Open National Playoffs women’s singles title, prevailing over a series of more
experienced opponents. Anderson was a girls’ singles quarterfinalist at the 2010 US Open and
now plays for UCLA.
The winners of the inaugural mixed doubles title were Christina Fusano and David Martin,
who between them have won 34 USTA Pro Circuit doubles titles. The duo faced No. 5 seeds
Daniela Hantuchova and Mark Knowles in the first round of the 2011 US Open mixed doubles
tournament.
The US Open Qualifying Tournament will be held August 21-24 and the US Open Mixed
Doubles Championship begins August 29 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center
in Flushing, N.Y. The 2012 US Open begins on August 27.