Touring Pros and Local Stars Highlight Field June 23-26

            Bloomington, Minn. – Former Minnesota State High School Singles Champion Wyatt McCoy (Shoreview, Minn.) highlights play beginning at 4 p.m. today at the US Open National Qualifier June 23-26 at the Baseline Tennis Center. McCoy, who will play tennis at Notre Dame next fall, has a tough opening round opponent in Lance Johnson from Berkeley, Calif. Johnson is a former traveling hitting partner of Venus and Serena Williams and a current tennis professional at the San Francisco Tennis Club.

            Also on this side of the bracket is this year’s Minnesota State High School State Tournament runner-up Eric Frueh of Rochester, Minn. In the first round, Frueh plays Djordje Uskokovic, a former #1 junior in Serbia and #1 singles and doubles player at Illinois State. He is now a coach at the Hermann Tennis Academy in Northbrook, Ill.

Defending champion Tony Larson of Alexandria, Minn., is on the opposite side of the bracket and opens with Dan Taylor of Spirit Lake, Iowa. Larson won the first-ever US Open National Playoff Northern Section Qualifier, defeating Keith Whittingham (Erie, Pa.) 6-2, 6-3 last year in St. Cloud, Minn. Also on Larson’s side of the draw is Germany’s Tobias Wernet, the University of Minnesota’s No. 1 singles player in 2011. Wernet was an all-Big Ten player during his sophomore season in 2008 with the Gophers, compiling a 20-14 singles record. Wernet received a first-round bye and will play Friday morning.

World top-100 doubles player Treat Huey, who was scheduled to play St. Cloud’s Brian Baumann in the first round today at 4 p.m., had to withdraw from the men’s singles draw because he qualified for the main gentlemen’s doubles draw at Wimbledon. Huey and his partner played Thursday morning (results are pending) in London.

Headlining the women’s singles draw is former Louisiana State player Megan Falcon. Named to the all-SEC first team three times (2007, 2008, 2009) in her career, she was also a two- time All-American in singles and is currently ranked in the top 500 of the world in singles. Also playing is Daria Panova, the current assistant coach for the University of Minnesota’s women’s team. At the University of Oregon, Panova went 93-47 in singles, was a three-time all-Pac-10 player and a two-time All-American. Her 93 career singles wins are still a record there. The women are scheduled to open play tonight at 6 p.m., weather permitting.

Other players to watch are former Minnesota state champion Aria Lambert (Excelsior, Minn.) and Julia Courter (Lawrenceville, Ga.). Both will be joining the University of Minnesota women’s team in the fall.

In the mixed doubles draw, Huey and his partner Megan Moulton-Levy are scheduled to play at 7 p.m. Friday night. Like Huey, Moulton-Levy also qualified for the main women’s doubles draw at Wimbledon where she and partner Lindsey Lee-Waters play Thursday afternoon (results are pending).

The brother-sister team of Brett and Becky Morse-Karzen will play Panova and Wernet in the first round Friday at 4 p.m.. Brett was a three-time All-American at Gustavus Adolphus College, and Becky was a five-time All-American at the University of Mary Washington.

Germany’s Imke Reimers, a former University of Nebraska player and current volunteer coach at the University of Minnesota, teams up with former Gopher Erik Donley (Duluth, Minn.). Reimers posted a career record of 90-34 in singles and a 74-34 doubles record at Nebraska, while Donley finished his Gopher career third on the all-time career doubles victories list (73). Reimers and Donley, the top mixed doubles team in the Northern Section, received a first round bye and will play Friday at 7 p.m.

Another team to look for is former Gopher players Lindsay Risebrough and Reven Stephens. Risebrough concluded her career with 52 singles victories and 43 doubles victories, while Stephens is one of the area’s top players and recently coached Breck High School to the Class 1A state title. They also received a first-round bye and will play at 7 p.m.