Posted on: Saturday, January 22, 2005
Waikoloa's a major stepping stone
Advertiser Staff
In its first five years, the Hilton Waikoloa Village U.S. Tennis Association Challenger has seen Andy Roddick, James Blake and Michael Chang.
To see what's coming to the Big Island next week and — if Roddick and Blake are any indication — who to watch in the future, look Down Under.
Americans Kevin Kim and Bobby Reynolds are in the third round at the Australian Open, the year's first Grand Slam. Kim is in Waikoloa's main draw, while Reynolds is an alternate.
The sixth annual Waikoloa Challenger features $50,000 men's and women's events for the second year. It opens this weekend with qualifying at Waikoloa's Kohala Tennis Garden. The women's main draw begins Monday and the men Tuesday.
Melinda Czink, a member of the Hungarian Fed Cup team, will defend her women's title and is seeded first. The No. 2 seed is Maria-Emilia Salerni, who lost to Czink in last year's final. Czink is No. 104 in the world rankings, while Salerni, from Argentina, is No. 139.
Czink went on to play in the French Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. She lost to Venus Williams in the first round at the Olympics.
Carly Gullickson is playing the qualifier. The daughter of former major leaguer Bill Gullickson qualified for Wimbledon in 2003, at age 16.
Dmitry Tursunov, the 2004 Waikoloa men's champ, will not defend, but there are plenty of potential replacements.
Reynolds, the top-ranked collegiate player when he was a junior at Vanderbilt, upset 17th-seeded Andrei Pavel Thursday in Australia.
Kim, 26, beat Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, of Spain, Wednesday. Garcia-Lopez upset fifth-seeded Carlos Moya in the opening round. Kim is the seventh-ranked American in the world, and 86th overall.
Paul Goldstein won the inaugural Challenger in 2000, when Waikoloa brought professional tennis back to Hawai'i after a six-year break. He is back for his sixth appearance.
The 28-year-old from Maryland has 22 career titles on the USTA Pro Circuit, two shy of Mark Merlein's record. Goldstein's biggest check last year was $25,000, which he collected after falling to No. 15 seed Paradorn Srichaphan in the second round of the U.S. Open.
The USTA Pro Circuit is the world's largest developmental tennis tour. There will be 91 Futures and Challenger events this year, offering more than $3 million in prize money and valuable ranking points.
Hilton Waikoloa Village is one of 21 men's Challengers in 2005, and one of four combined events for men and women. It will also host a $15,000 Futures event in November. The Honolulu Futures will be the same month, at the University of Hawai'i's new courts.
Challengers are designed to provide young Americans ranked in the No. 75 to 200 range a chance to earn ATP and WTA Tour Ranking Points.
Taipei's Yen-Hsun Lu is the highest ranked player in the men's field at No. 84. Brian Baker was the leading money winner on the Pro Circuit last year among the men and upped his ranking from 422 to 177. Two-time NCAA champ Matias Boeker is also playing, along with Alex Bogomolov Jr., No. 125 in the world, and former U.S. Davis Cupper Justin Gimelstob (144).
The USTA Hawai'i Pacific Section Kids School Day will be Wednesday at Waikoloa, beginning at 9 a.m. Community Tennis Day is next Saturday at 8 a.m., before the semifinals. Ticket-holders can participate in free clinics, autograph sessions and other tennis-related activities.
Tickets and information are available by calling Hilton Waikoloa Village at 886-2222 on the Big Island.
