Asia's Time in the Sun

active_tennis — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 21:29:45 GMT

Wild card Asia Muhammad may have lost in the first round of the U.S. Open, but not before her 15 minutes in the sun.

Aravane Rezai, a French-born player of Iranian descent ranked 74 on the WTA tour, defeated Muhammad 6-2, 6-4 on Monday.

But an interesting report in the NYTimes chronicles Asia's beginnings at Agassi's Boys & Girls Club in Las Vegas.

"Eight years ago, Asia's father Ron Holmes took his children to the corner of Washington and Martin Luther King in Las Vegas, eyeing the basketball program for his sons. Asia’s cousin, Jasmine Muhammad, was already in Agassi’s tennis program, in the process of hitting her way to Howard University.

"Asia hit a few balls at a tryout clinic; that was good enough. A couple of years later, she was on her way to being nationally ranked as a 13-year-old, to a slew of tournament victories and by March, still an amateur, to the final of a $50,000 tournament in Las Vegas."

While not the best start at the Open, chances are we'll be seeing a lot more from this talented 17-year-old in the future.

(Photo: NYTimes.com/Marilynn Yee)

Wild Cards Awarded at 2008 US Open

active_tennis — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 17:39:57 GMT

A talented group of young Americans along with several international players have been awarded main draw wild card entries into the 2008 US Open.

USTA Girls’ 18s National Champion Gail Brodksy (Brooklyn, N.Y.), Jamea Jackson (Bradenton, Fla.), Asia Muhammad (Las Vegas), Melanie Oudin (Roswell, Ga.), Ahsha Rolle (Miami Shores, Fla.), CoCo Vandeweghe (Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.), Frenchwomen Séverine Bremond and an Australian player to be named have been awarded women’s singles main draw wild card entries.

Amer Delic (Jacksonville, Fla.), Brendan Evans (Key Biscayne, Fla.), Scoville Jenkins (Atlanta), Austin Krajicek (Bryan, Texas), Jesse Levine (Boca Raton, Fla.), and Sam Warburg (Sacramento, Calif.), along with two international players, Carsten Ball (Australia) and Laurent Recouderc (France), have been awarded men’s singles.

Both the men’s and women’s US Open singles champions will earn $1.5 million with the ability to earn an additional $1 million in bonus prize money (for a total $2.5 million potential payout) based on their performance in the Olympus US Open Series. In addition, both US Open singles champions will receive a new 2009 Lexus IS-F automobile.

Blog Posts From 2008 US Open Tagged With wild_cards

Asia's Time in the Sun

Wild Cards Awarded at 2008 US Open