Dish-Houston

Plenty of off-court events are planned during the 2013 US Men's Clay Court Championship at River Oaks Country Club April 8-14. While four members of the Top 20 of the ATP World Tour Rankings will headline the action on-court, events ranging from a Wound Warrior exhibition to fashion shows will be among the highlights away from the courts.

Here's a look at the event schedule for the week:

Monday, April 8
Junior Night - Youth tennis will be celebrated on Junior Night, which will include a Q&A session with an ATP World Tour player for the participating kids before the night session of matches begins.

Tuesday, April 9
HLTA Ladies Day - The Houston Ladies Tennis Association will host a special clinic and Q&A with Wayne Bryan and ATP World Tour players at 10:30 a.m. The special ticket price includes both the clinic and a ticket to the day session.

Tuesday and Thursday, April 9 and 11
Corona Q&A - An ATP World Tour player will visit the Corona Beach House during happy hour for a Q&A session with fans.

Wednesday, April 10
Armed Forces Appreciation Night - Several events will take place to honor members of the military, including a special Wounded Warrior tennis exhibition before the night session begins. A military color guard will also help open the night session.

Wednesday-Thursday, April 10-11
Tootsies Fashion Show SOLD OUT - A fabulous brunch is served while fashions and accessories from Tootsies are showcased on the runways over the pool at River Oaks Country Club. This popular event once again sold out in just minutes for 2013.

Friday, April 12
USTA Member Appreciation Day - USTA members will receive a gift with proof of their membership from USTA Texas. There will also be a reception held for USTA members before the start of the day session on Friday.

On Court
Opening rounds of the qualifying tournament will be held Saturday and Sunday, April 6-7, and these matches are FREE to the public. Several main draw players will also be practicing at the courts over these days, so it's a great chance for fans to see a lot of tennis action! Monday-Friday, day sessions will begin at Noon, and night sessions will start at 6 p.m. On Saturday, April 13, the singles semifinals will be played back-to-back beginning at 1 p.m., and the doubles final will be held at 6 p.m. Sunday's singles final will begin at 2 p.m.

The main draw for the tournament will be made late in the afternoon on Friday, April 5. The projected top four seeds, who will all have first round byes, are projected to be No. 12 Nicolas Almagro, No. 14 and defending champion Juan Monaco, No. 18 Tommy Haas and No. 20 and the top-ranked American Sam Querrey. Other players in the main draw who will play Monday or Tuesday include two-time Grand Slam champion from Australia Lleyton Hewitt, Spain's Fernando Verdasco, France's Nicolas Almagro, and AmericansJohn Isner, James Blake, Ryan Harrison and Houston resident Michael Russell.

In addition to these singles players, four-time doubles champion the Bryan Brothers will return to River Oaks. The twin brothers Bob and Mike are the World No. 1 doubles team. They own the record for Grand Slam titles with 13 together as well as total career titles together with 86. 

Information on these special events and tickets can be found at www.mensclaycourt.com or by calling 713-874-6294. Several sessions are very close to selling out, however the Ticket Turnback program will return for fans to donate tickets for sessions they cannot attend to the box office so they can be resold with the purchase price being donated to charity. A new beneficiary for the Ticket Turnback program will be announced before the tournament.

The US Men’s Clay Court Championship and the USTA are teaming up during next week’s tournament to support members of the United States military through an Adopt-A-Unit program for 402^nd Army Field Support Brigade (AFSB).
 
The Adopt-A-Unit effort coincides with the tournament’s first-ever Armed Forces Appreciation Night on Wednesday, April 11. That evening will include a wheelchair tennis demonstration featuring Wounded Warriors as well as a special tribute to all military personnel.
 
Patrons attending the US Men’s Clay Court Championship April 9-15 at River Oaks Country Club are encouraged support the Adopt-A-Unit program by bringing items to donate for a shipment to the 75-100 personnel in that unit based at Al Asad Air Base in Iraq.  
 
Letters of support are among the items suggested for donation to the troops. In addition, specific needs include money for postage, beef jerky, sunflower seeds, nuts, protein bars, granola bars, powdered drink mixes, tuna in foil bags, socks, personal or baby wipes, hand warmers, hot chocolate, hand sanitizer and lip balm.
 
Fans are asked to bring any of these items to the USTA booth at the US Men’s Clay Court Championship at River Oaks Country Club. In addition to these donations, the USTA will be providing portable tennis equipment to be sent to the troops as well.
 
On Monday, April 16, volunteers will gather at River Oaks to package all the donated items for shipment to the 402^nd AFSB.
 
The 402nd AFSB and its subordinate units provide acquisition, logistics and technology-related sustainment support to Army, joint, and multinational forces, as well other government agencies through a combination of direct support and general support as directed by the Army Sustainment Command (ASC) and senior Army sustainment combatant commands in its area of operations.
 
Once again in 2012 the US Men’s Clay Court Championship will also be working its charitable partner Texas Children’s Hospital. In addition to several ATP World Tour players taking time to visit patients during the tournament, the hospital will also once again be the beneficiary of the tournament’s ticket resale program.
 
Through the Texas Children’s Ticket Turnback program, fans holding tickets for a session that they cannot use are invited to return those tickets to the box office where they will be sold for face value and the entire resale price will be donated to Texas Children’s Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Institute.

 
“We are very happy to work with the USTA on this Adopt-A-Unit initiative and are pleased to introduce that program this year as we have our first Armed Forces Appreciation Night,” said tournament director Van Barry. “In the past few years we have seen the Texas Children’s Ticket Turnback program grow, so we feel the time is right to try to extend our support to another project. We continue to take pride in our ability to give back to the community through this tournament, and we are thankful to our patrons who help us support these causes.”

 
The 2012 tournament will begin April 9 and features four players in the Top 16 of the ATP rankings – No. 9 Mardy Fish,No. 10 John Isner, No. 15 Feliciano Lopez and No. 16 Juan Monaco. The eight seeded players in the 28-player field are all in the Top 50 of the rankings, and the draw includes four past champions of the event and three former finalists. (SEE PLAYER LIST HERE)
 
ONLY LIMITED TICKETS REMAIN for the 2012 US Men’s Clay Court Championship. The popular Champs Pass that includes all sessions from Friday-Sunday has sold out, and only standing room only tickets remain for Saturday’s singles semifinals and doubles final. Information on tickets can be found at www.mensclaycourt.com or by calling 713-874-629.