Dish-Houston

YEAH!! Tennis is sooooo happening in Houston RIGHT NOW!! Yesterday's results were strong and tonight will be DOMINATED by James Blake and Sam Querrey!

See you at the ROCC, DISHIES!

RESULTS - SUNDAY, APRIL 8, 2012
QUALIFYING SECOND ROUND
[1] Go Soeda (JPN) d Robby Ginepri (USA) 64 64
[2] Horacio Zeballos (ARG) d (WC) Nicholas Naumann (USA) 63 61
[3] Ricardo Mello (BRA) d Peter Polansky (CAN) 75 63
[4] Michael Russell (USA) d Denes Lukacs (HUN) 64 75
[5] Tommy Haas (GER) d Chris Wettengel (USA) 63 63
Catalin-Ionut Gard (ROU) d [6] Teymuraz Gabashvili (RUS) 75 46 62
Daniel Kosakowski (USA) d [7] Yuichi Sugita (JPN) 76(4) 64
Jan Hernych (CZE) d [8] Michael Yani (USA) 76(5) 10 ret.
 

ORDER OF PLAY - MONDAY, APRIL 9, 2012
Stadium Court start 12:00 pm
Qualifying - [4] Michael Russell (USA) vs Daniel Kosakowski (USA)
Qualifying - [1] Go Soeda (JPN) vs [5] Tommy Haas (GER)
Michael Kohlman (GER) & Alexander Waske (GER) vs (WC) Robert Kendrick (USA) & Ryan Sweeting (USA)
Not Before 6:00 pm
(6) Carlos Berlocq (ARG) vs James Blake (USA)
Eric Prodon (FRA) vs Sam Querrey (USA)

COURT 3 start 12:00 pm
Qualifying - [2] Horacio Zeballos (ARG) vs Jan Hernych (CZE)
Qualifying - [3] Ricardo Mello (BRA) vs Catalin-Ionut Gard (ROU)
Not Before 4 p.m.
Bjorn Phau (GER) vs Diego Junqueira (ARG)

NOTES
- Monday nights' schedule includes a pair of former finalists in Americans James Blake (2008) and Sam Querrey (2010).
- A preliminary schedule for the week has been set. This schedule is subject to change.
TUESDAY: Night session will feature defending champion Ryan Sweeting against a qualifier.
WEDNESDAY: Afternoon session will feature American rising star Ryan Harrison against No. 7 Alex Bogomolov, Jr. The night session will feature No. 3 Feliciano Lopez in his first match of the tournament.
THURSDAY: The first matches for No. 1 Mardy Fish, No. 2 John Isner and No. 4 Juan Monaco will all be held, but the sessions are still to be determined.
- This marks the second year in a row a former champion has played in qualifying at the US Men's Clay Court Championship. Tommy Haas, who has a bye in the 2012 qualifying draw, won the event in 2004. The 2007 champion Ivo Karlovic successfully qualified last year.
- Qualifying is a rare event for Tommy Haas. This is just the seventh time since he began playing on the ATP World Tour in 1996 that he has played qualifying. He has successfully reached the main draw just twice in his previous six attempts, including last fall in Vienna where he reached the quarterfinals.
- Five participants in the US Men's Clay Court Championship are playing Davis Cup this weekend. Ryan Harrison and John Isner represented the U.S. in a win over France, Ivo Karlovic  played for Croatia at Argentina where Juan Monaco was on the team, and Joao Souza represented Brazil in a home zonal tie against Colombia.

ONLY LIMITED TICKETS REMAIN for the 2012 US Men’s Clay Court Championship. Information on tickets can be found at www.mensclaycourt.com or by calling 713-527-0345. Once again, the US Men’s Clay Court Championship will provide the Texas Children’s Ticket Turnback program. Any 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.

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.

 

The first wild cards for the 2012 US Men’s Clay Court Championship have been awarded to Spain’s Feliciano Lopez, the 15^th ranked player on the ATP World Tour, and Argentina’s Juan Monaco, who is No. 21.
 
Lopez and Monaco join a pair of Top 10 Americans, Mardy Fish and John Isner, in committing to the event that will be held April 9-15 at River Oaks Country Club.
 
Feliciano LopezLopez, who has been ranked in the Top 50 in eight of the past nine seasons, will be making his tournament debut in Houston. He has been a mainstay of Spain’s Davis Cup success in recent years, playing in 20 ties and contributing to four championship teams. The three-time Wimbledon quarterfinalist owns two ATP World Tour titles in seven career finals.
 
Monaco ranks ninth among active players for career clay court wins with a 157-91 record on the surface. He has claimed four titles in 11 finals on clay, including earlier this year in Vina del Mar. In 2011, he helped Argentina to the Davis Cup final against Spain. Monaco was the 2006 runner-up of the River Oaks International, and went 2-2 at the US Men’s Clay Court Championship at Westside, reaching the quarterfinals in 2007.
 
“We’re thrilled to have the chance to grant Feliciano and Juan wild cards,” tournament director Van Barry said. “To have these Top 25 international stars join our field that’s anchored by a couple of Top 10 Americans with Mardy and John is a very exciting way to gear up for the tournament which begins in just over two weeks.”
 
Fish, the 2006 US Men’s Clay Court Champion, is ranked No. 8, while Isner has reached a career high No. 10 on Monday after reaching the final this past week at Indian Wells by beating No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the semifinals.
 
Fish is one of four former champions in the field, including Ryan Sweeting (2011), Marcel Granollers (2008) and Ivo Karlovic (2007). Three former finalists are also in the field, and they are all Americans: Sam Querrey (2010), Wayne Odesnik (2009) and James Blake (2008).
 
The addition of Lopez and Monaco brings the tournament field to 23 players thus far (SEE CURRENT LIST HERE). One more wild card will be awarded and four other players will join the field through the qualifying tournament that begins April 7.
 
The doubles field will be announced just before the tournament, but four-time winners of the US Men’s Clay Court Championship Bob and Mike Bryan have committed to return and defend their title once again.
 
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.
 
Once again, the US Men’s Clay Court Championship will provide the Texas Children’s Ticket Turnback program. Any 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.

How cool is this?? THe The 2011 main draw will be made a 3 p.m. TODAY LIVE ON TWITTER!! 

It will be featuring 2011 US Men's Clay Court Championship participant Somdev Devvarman of India. Devvarman is a two-time NCAA Champion from the University of Virginia and also a Commonwealth Games gold medalist. He is ranked a career high this week, having reached the final earlier this year in Johannesburg and the fourth round at Indian Wells.

As the draw is made, the match ups will instantly be tweeted by the tournament at HERE , then Devvarman will offer his opinion on the match on his personal Twitter. To make following easier, the conversation will be aggregated using the hashtag #ATPHouston. 

If you don't have your tickets yet, some are still available. Tickets for select individual sessions at the 2011 US Men’s Clay Court Championship remain available. The Champ Pass and season ticket packages have sold out for the 2011 event. 

Information on tickets can be found HERE or by calling 713-874-6294.

One of DISH'S favorite programs in sports in Houston is what we are calling the ACE program!

Patrons with tickets they will not able to use may donate them back to the River Oaks box office. Those tickets will then be on sale at the box office for face value with 100% of the proceeds donated to the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute at Texas Childrens.

US Men’s Clay Court Championship at River Oaks Country Club
The 102nd competition for the US Men’s Clay Court Championship will be held April 4-10, 2011, at River Oaks Country Club in Houston. Started by the USTA in 1910, it has been held at numerous venues around the country. The tournament has been held in Houston since 2001, and will be held at River Oaks Country Club for the third straight year. Prior to hosting the US Men’s Clay Court Championship, River Oaks Country Club hosted its own event, The River Oaks International. Started in 1931, the River Oaks International roster of former champions includes Jack Kramer, Tony Trabert, Rod Laver, Roy Emerson, Ken Rosewall, Ivan Lendl, Guillermo Vilas and James Blake. The 2011 US Men’s Clay Court Championship will be the 77^th tournament at River Oaks, with the club hosting a tournament every year since 1946 after a four-year lapse due to the war. More information is available at HERE or on Twitter

Gentlemen, find your Seersucker and Ladies, grab your hats because it's almost TENNIS time in Houston!

Defending champion Juan Ignacio Chela is among the ATP World Tour players who are on the initial entry list for the 2011 US Men's Clay Court Championship, joining the previously announced American contingent of James Blake, Mardy Fish, John Isner and Sam Querrey, who all committed early to the tournament.

Twelve countries are represented among the first 20 players to be announced for the 28-player field at the 2011 US Men’s Clay Court Championship which will be played April 4-10 at River Oaks Country Club.

There are six Americans entered into the event. In addition to the four that were previously announced, Robert Kendrick and Houston resident Michael Russell will also be joining the field following their rankings rises after reaching the Memphis quarterfinals last week.

Chela, from Argentina, will be looking to be the first player to repeat as champion since Andy Roddick in 2001 and 2002, the event's first two years in Houston. In 2010, Chela defeated Querrey in the final. In addition to 2010 finalists Chela and Querrey, the field includes 2006 champion Fish and 2008 runner-up Blake.

The initial entry list includes six players who are in the Top 50 of the February 21 ATP World Tour Rankings - Fish (16), Querrey (22), Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (23), Chela (31), Isner (32) and Kevin Anderson (40). The last player accepted to the main draw at this initial entry deadline is Russell, who is No. 90 this week.

Below is the initial entry list of 20 players for the 2011 US Men's Clay Court Championship. Two more wild cards will be announced. In addition, four players will advance through qualifying. Two more players will be added based either on results in Miami the week prior to the River Oaks tournament or off the alternate list.

 *Blake is the first of three wild card recipients

“We have a very good field lined up for the US Men’s Clay Court Championship this year,” said tournament director Van Barry. “We look forward to welcoming this international group of players to River Oaks and anticipate a very competitive tournament in April.”

 

Three-time doubles champions Bob and Mike Bryan, who claimed their 10^th career major title by winning the Australian Open last month, will headline the doubles field for the US Men's Clay Court Championship. The full field for that event will be announced closer to the tournament.
 
Individual and “Champ Pass” tickets for the 2011 US Men’s Clay Court Championship are on sale now. The popular Champ Pass includes a ticket to the Friday, Saturday and Sunday sessions, which are usually sold out before the tournament begins. A limited number of season ticket packages for the 2011 event are still remaining,.

To Purchace Tickets CLICK HERE  or by calling 713-874-6294.