HOUSTON – The Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Champonship has awarded its singles main draw wild cards to Serbia’s Janko Tipsarevic and Americans Bjorn Fratangelo and Noah Rubin.
All three of these wild card recipients were junior grand slam title winners early in their career.
Tipsarevic has been ranked as high at No. 8 in the world. The veteran from Serbia will be playing his third Tour-level event after undergoing two hamstring surgeries and missing all of 2018. His opening round win in Miami was his first victory since the 2017 US Open. He owns four career titles and has played in 11 final. He will be making his third US Clay appearance and first since 2015.
Fratangelo will be playing at River Oaks for the fifth time and will be making his third straight main draw appearance. He owns three career Challenger titles, and earlier this season he reached the semifinals at the Dallas Challenger. The 25-year-old native of Pittsburgh won the 2011 French Open junior title, becoming the first American boy to win in Paris since John McEnroe in 1977.
Rubin is the winner of four career Challenger titles. He opened 2019 by reaching his sixth Challenger final. The 23-year-old native of Long Island, N.Y., will be making his second appearance at River Oaks. In 2015 he was named Player and Freshman of the Year in the ACC after reaching the NCAA singles final while playing at Wake Forest. He was also the 2014 Wimbledon boys’ champion.
Away from the tournament action, this year’s tournament will feature a new dining and shopping experience for fans called The Courtyard. This area will feature a food and drink offerings from Goode Co. as well as shopping from Tenenbaum Jewelers, Tootsies, L’Etoile as well as a selection of tournament merchandise at The Clay Court Shop.
A very limited supply of tickets remain for selection tournament sessions. Fans holding tickets for sessions they cannot attend are encouraged to return those tickets to the tournament through the Ticket Turnback Program. Those tickets can then be resold, with the entire purchase price being donated to Pediatric Trauma at Children’s Memorial Hermann. Information on ticket sales and the Turnback program can be found on mensclaycourt.com.
