Tim Stephens Perth

USTA Names Men's and Women's 2011 US Open Wild Card Entries

The USTA has announced that 2001 U.S. Open champion Lleyton Hewitt of Australia and a group of Americans consisting of former U.S. Open semifinalist Robby Ginepri, teenager Ryan Harrison, reigning NCAA champion Steve Johnson, Jack Sock, who won his second consecutive USTA Boys’ 18s title on Sunday, and current world number 89th ranked player Donald Young, along with France’s Julien Benneteau, have been awarded men’s singles main draw wild card entries into the 2011 U.S. Open.

One additional wild card will be given to the winner of the 2011 U.S. Open Wild Card Playoff , an eight-player invitational event held by USTA Player Development at the Junior Tennis Champions Center, a USTA Certified Regional Training Center in College Park, Md., this week.

Both the men’s and women’s U.S. Open singles champions will win $1.8 million in prize money with the ability to earn an additional $1 million in bonus prize money (for a total potential payout of $2.8 million) based on their performance in the 2011 Olympus U.S. Open Series. The U.S. Open Men’s Singles Championship is presented by Mercedes-Benz USA.

Ginepri , 28, of Kennesaw, Ga., has played in just six events since the 2010 US Open after undergoing arm surgery last September, and is currently ranked No. 305 after reaching the final of the USTA Pro Circuit $100,000 Challenger in Vancouver earlier this month. He achieved a career-high ranking of No. 15 in 2005 after reaching the semifinals of the US Open that year. Ginepri has won three career ATP World Tour singles titles and has been a member of the U.S. Davis Cup and Olympic tennis teams.

Hewitt , 30, of Adelaide, Australia, received his wild card through a reciprocal arrangement with Tennis Australia, which will grant a men’s singles main draw wild card into the 2012 Australian Open to a player designated by the USTA. He is a former world number one and the winner of 28 career singles titles, including 2001 U.S. Open and 2002 Wimbledon.

UNLIMITED | ThreeWeeks | ED2011 Comedy Review: Stephens And Thomas ...

Veering off from the mainstream, this duo have yet to reap the returns of alternative comedy. Hypothesising that Christian homophobia stems from a momentary kiss shared between God and Satan in a photobooth could be the core of a good joke, but Stephens does too little beyond expounding the story; the premise isn’t funny in itself – it needs to be moulded into a joke. Thomas’ delivery was so tired that his crude jokes didn’t get the laughs he wanted. Furthermore, with the audience full of what seemed like people over 50, it was bizarre to hear this 20-something offering wisdom to the couples in the room; Thomas should gauge his audience before making such amateur lines.

Sin Club And Lounge, 6 – 27 Aug, 8.00pm (9.00pm), free, fpp155.