PALM VALLEY — Before Andre Agassi, Jim Courier, Andy Murray and Pete Sampras became tennis icons, they got their start on the United States Tennis Association’s Pro Circuit tour.
And as the 2016 USTA Men’s $25,000 Futures tennis tournament rolls into Harlingen County Club this week, it’s possible that tennis’ next superstar may be in our midst.
The Pro Circuit event begins in earnest on Tuesday morning as the first round of the singles and doubles tournaments get underway. The wild card and qualifying tournaments actually began last week and wrap up later today.
Admission to all matches is free except for Saturday’s singles semifinal, and Sunday’s singles and doubles championship matches when the cost to enter is $5.
Action during the week starting Tuesday begins at 10 a.m. Saturday’s singles semis are set to start at 11 a.m. and on Sunday’s action gets going at noon.
Among the 32 entries is former Harlingen South tennis standout Tomas Stillman, who reached the Class 5A boys state singles championship match in 2010. He will compete in both the singles and doubles tournament.
A recent graduate of the University of Texas-San Antonio, Stillman has played in this event before as he hopes to continue to gain points toward his world tennis ranking while earning some money in the process. He and his doubles partner Trey Hildebrand of San Antonio open play Tuesday on Court 1 around 1 p.m. against the duo of Nick Chappell and Brayden Schnur. On the singles side, Stillman begins play on Wednesday against Jordi Arconada at a time yet to be determined.
The tournament’s top seed is Alessandro Bega of Italy. According to the ATP World Tour website, Bega is currently ranked 291st in the world, was ranked as high as 259 and has earned $88,033 in prize money during his career. He opens play on Tuesday against Julian Lenz of Germany.
The USTA Pro Circuit is essentially the minor leagues of professional tennis as it allows players the chance to develop their skills and improve their rankings.
Futures events, such as this week’s tournament, usually involve top-ranked juniors, college players and professionals at the beginning of their careers.
For more information on the Harlingen Country Club Men’s $25,000 Futures tournament, contact Andy Carter at 956-412-4100, extension 104.
