June 18, 2002
BERKELEY -
The 2002 USTA Berkeley Futures Tournament begins Tuesday, June 18 at the Hellman Tennis Courts on the Cal campus. The $15,000 prize money tournament is sure to feature hotly contested battles as budding tennis professionals fight for precious ATP points and money prizes (Collegiate players compete as amateurs and do not accept prize money.). The tournament features eight players ranked inside the world's top 500 in singles.
Several local standouts will certainly draw vocal fans. Cal's John Paul Fruttero, fresh off last week's title run at the Sunnyvale Futures, will begin his assault on his home turf Tuesday in doubles and Wednesday in singles. Wednesday's match pits Fruttero against fourth-seeded Alun Jones of Australia, ranked 382nd in the world.
Fruttero's recent win in Sunnyvale is his first Futures title and the best result of a Cal player in a pro tournament in recent years. In the final, he defeated Machihisa Onoda of Japan, seeded seventh at the Berkeley Futures, by a score of 6-4, 6-7 (4-7), 6-4. El Cerrito's Chris Magyary, a Cal Poly graduate, is ranked No. 336 in the world in doubles. Pramod Dabir of Saratoga, a freshman-to-be at Illinois this fall, won four qualifying matches over the weekend and has a Wednesday start.
Numerous collegiate players dot the draw as Nick Rainey (USC), Zack Fleishman (UCLA), K.C. Corkery (Stanford) and Scott Lipsky (Stanford) are all entered.
USTA Futures tournaments are designed to enable pro tennis hopefuls compete to obtain ATP points and prize money. All matches this week are at the Hellman Tennis Courts and admission is free to the public. For more information regarding this week's tournament, call 510-642-1153.
Seed Country Ranking
1 Peter Clarke IRL 291
2 Daniel Willman USA 336
3 Jeff Williams USA 374
4 Alun Jones AUS 382
5 Lazar Madgincev MKD 389
6 Dirk Stegmann RSA 394
7 Michihisa Onoda JPN 410
8 Luke Bourgeois AUS 458
Schedule of Events
Tuesday, June 18
Court 1
10 a.m. -- Peter Clarke vs. James Sekulov
Followed by John Doran vs. Daniel Willman
1 p.m. -- Sean Cooper/Stephen Nugent vs. Peter Clarke/James Sekulov
Followed by Luke Bourgeois/Alun Jones vs. K.C. Corkery/Scott Lipsky
Court 3
10 a.m. -- Zack Fleishman vs. Tripp Phillips
Followed by John Paul Fruttero/Anthony Ross vs. Bobby Reynolds/Nathan Zeder
1 p.m. -- W.P. Meyer/Dirk Stegmann vs. Michael Calkins/Amer Delic
Followed by Chris Magyary/Daniel Willman vs. Lazar Magdincev/Eric Nunez
Court 5
10 a.m. -- Dirk Stegmann vs. Mashiska Washington
Followed by K.C. Corkery vs. Lester Cook
1 p.m. -- Nick Rainey/Brian Wilson vs. Huntley Montgomery/Tripp Phillips
Followed by Ogidi Obi/Mashiska Washington vs. Zack Fleishman/Jeff Williams
