FSU Hosts USTA Pro Circuit Tallahassee Futures Tournament This Week

The Florida State men’s tennis program will host the annual Tallahassee Futures $15,000 pro tennis tournament, a USTA Pro Circuit and ITF World Tennis Tour event, at the Florida State Indoor Tennis Facility on Dec. 2-8, 2019, in Tallahassee, Fla.

Tallahassee Futures starts tomorrow at 10am‼️

Come out to the FSU Indoor Tennis Facility to watch your Noles play ALL WEEK!

Click the link below for updated draws and schedules ⤵️https://t.co/1mQXBijz1t

— FSU Men's Tennis (@FSU_MTennis) December 2, 2019

No. 360-ranked Ryan Peniston of Great Britain, a finalist last year, was the top player on the main draw direct acceptance list, followed by Americans Strong Kirchheimer and Dennis Novikov. Receiving main draw junior reserved slots were Americans Eliot Spizzirri and former USTA Florida “Bobby Curtis” state champion Tyler Zink.

The Seminoles men’s team will have eight players competing as senior Alex Knaff, junior transfer Marcus Walters, and freshman Loris Pourroy will all receive main draw wild cards, while competing in the qualifying will be FSU players Rana-Roop Singh Bhullar, Sebastian Arcila, Chase Wood, Bryn Nahrung, and Richard Thongoana.

“This event is something that our guys look forward to every year, it’s their opportunity to get an ATP ranking,” said head coach Dwayne Hultquist. “A bunch of our guys already have that but for a bunch of them, it’s a great opportunity. Going into the spring season it gives us an opportunity to play in the month of December and have a tournament. I think it will better prepare us for January when we start playing matches.”

The tournament is part of the USTA Pro Circuit Collegiate series, which features pro circuit tournaments hosted at universities across the nation. This year marks the fifth consecutive year that Florida State has worked with the USTA to be a part of this Pro Circuit Collegiate Series.

“Tuesday and Wednesday night, we have dinners so fans can come and eat and watch our guys play,” Hultquist said. “The matches will start at 5:30 p.m. and dinner starts at 6:00 p.m. It’s a fun event and something you can bring the whole family to.”

Maxime Cressy, a then-senior at UCLA, won last year’s event when the 21-year-old Frenchman defeated Peniston 6-4, 7-6(4) in the final.

Tallahassee Futures Collegiate Series past champions:

2018 — Maxime Cressy (FRA)
2017 — Ryan Shane (USA)
2016 — Brayden Schnur (CAN)
2015 — Daniel Nguyen (USA)

With more than 90 tournaments hosted annually throughout the country and prize money ranging from $15,000-$125,000, the USTA Pro Circuit is the pathway to the US Open and tour-level competition for aspiring tennis players and a frequent battleground for established professionals. Andy Murray, Maria Sharapova, John Isner, Sloane Stephens, Kei Nishikori, Victoria Azarenka, and Sam Querrey are among today’s top stars who began their careers on the USTA Pro Circuit.

For more tournament information, click here.