Hayes Establishes USTA Tennis Classic of Macon
7/9/2013 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
MACON, Ga. – Mercer head men's and women's tennis coach Eric Hayes was flanked by Rick Limpert and Jaime Kaplan at Stratford Academy on Tuesday as the trio announced the establishment of the USTA Tennis Classic of Macon. The Pro Circuit event will welcome some of the top women tennis players in the world to the Jamie Kaplan Tennis Center from October 6-13, 2013.
The 25K event marks the return of professional tennis to Macon after a 10K Pro Circuit tournament was discontinued in the 1990's. The event is expected to draw both rising and established players aiming to earn points, and in some cases, earn direct acceptance into the 2014 Australian Open.
The field for the tournament will be released in September, along with wildcard and qualifier participants. Wildcards will be awarded leading up to the start of the main and qualifying draws and will join those that survive the qualifying tournament in the main draw, alongside 20 director entry players.
As recently as two years ago, American professional standouts such as Sloane Stephens, Madison Keys, Jamie Hampton, Melanie Oudin and Varvara Lepchencko have competed in similar events.
Limpert will serve as Public Relations Director of the tournament, while Kaplan is a fixture in the Macon tennis community. Her extended professional career was highlighted by a trip to the round of 16 in mixed doubles at Wimbledon.
