Jesse Witten Makes It Into U.S. Open Qualifiers

LEXINGTON, Ky. – University of Kentucky
men’s tennis great Jesse Witten has earned a spot in the qualifying tournament
for the 2015 U.S. Open that starts next week, thanks to winning the U.S. Open
National Playoffs at 32 years old.

The US Open National Playoffs were held Aug.
21-24, in New Haven, Conn., featuring regional winners from USTA sections
across the country. The tournament was played in conjunction with the
Connecticut Open presented by United Technologies, the final Emirates Airline
US Open Series women’s event of the summer.

Witten was able to fend off top seed Matija
Pecotic of Croatia 7-6(4), 7-6(3) on Monday to earn a wild card into the US
Open Qualifying Tournament. In the first round of the US Open qualifying Witten
will face No. 18 seed John-Patrick Smith of Australia.

The 2015 US Open Singles Qualifying Tournament
begins tomorrow and ends on Aug. 28. It will be held at the USTA Billie Jean
King National Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y., at the home of the US Open.
Qualifying draws are posted on www.USOpen.org.

For the latest on the Kentucky women’s soccer team, follow @UKMensTennis on Twitter and
Facebook, as well as on the web at UKathletics.com.