The USTA announced today that it has agreed to a new three-year contract to host its annual Australian Open Wild Card Playoffs at the Racquet Club of the South (RCS), a USTA Certified Regional Training Center in Atlanta. The 2011 Kia Australian Open Wild Card Playoff, which will be held December 16-18, will mark the third consecutive year that it has been contested at the RCS. The event will also feature an exhibition match on Friday, December 16, that will be played in a World TeamTennis format, with U.S. Davis Cup Captain Jim Courier and USTA Player Development General Manager Patrick McEnroe serving as the team captains.
Eight men and eight women will compete in the wild card playoffs. The USTA secured the opportunity through a reciprocal agreement with Tennis Australia where the two national tennis federations exchange wild cards for the 2011 US Open and the 2012 Australian Open.
"The Racquet Club of the South has been a great host for our Australian Open Wild Card Playoff the past two years. The Atlanta tennis community has embraced the event and we expect interest to continue to grow in the coming years," said McEnroe. "The event is a great showcase for our players and promotes our philosophy of having them earn their way into Grand Slam events through competition."
Teenagers Ryan Harrison and Lauren Davis won last year’s events to earn main draw wild cards into the 2011 Australian Open. Harrison also won the event in 2009. Additionally, former Georgia Tech standout Irina Falconi won a USTA playoff to earn a main draw wild card into the 2011 French Open before subsequently reaching the third round at the US Open, and Madison Keys won a USTA playoff to earn entry into the 2011 US Open, where she became the youngest player to win a main draw US Open match since 2005.
The fields for the wild card playoffs will be determined in the upcoming weeks.
For tickets and more information, go to
www.australianwildcard.com. USTA members can receive 10% off their ticket purchases by using the promo code: "usta10off"