from Berks County Tennis Association
Photo courtesy of John Fornander on Unsplash
The fifth annual Ellesse Pro Tennis Challenge will take place from Thursday, Aug. 15, to Friday, Aug. 16, at the Emkey Tennis Garden in Wyomissing, with world-class professional tennis coming to Berks County yet again.
This year, the event is headlined by three world-class pros, including World #223 Jon Choinski from Great Britain, New Zealand Davis Cupper, and #1 player from New Zealand KP Pannu and world #521 Felix Corwin. Following the injury withdrawals of world #90 Frenchman Arthur Cazauz, world #212 Frenchman Kyrian Jacquet, 2023 event finalist and 2024 NCAA Division 1 Singles Finalist Michael Zheng, the event will welcome three new players:
- Ryan Harrison: Harrison, the former world ATP top 40 and Grand Slam Doubles Champion, will be making his third appearance at the Ellesse Pro Tennis Challenge.
- Alexis Galarneau: A native of Quebec, Canada, Galarneau, the world #226, will be coming from playing an ATP Challenger in the Dominican Republic to make his debut at the Ellesse Pro Tennis Challenge.
- Holden Koons: The York, PA native was an NCAA Division 1 All-American and was ranked #1 in the country in Doubles at Wake Forest. He previously played at James Madison University and was the conference player of the year there. Last year at the Ellesse Pro Tennis Challenge, he defeated Ryan Harrison and Max Neuchrist, top previous top 200 players. Koons will be making his second appearance at the Ellesse Pro Tennis Challenge.
Plays begins Thursday, Aug. 15, with round-robin matches at 1 p.m., 3 p.m., 5 p.m., and a special night match at 7 p.m. Play continues Friday, Aug. 16, with the final two round-robin matches at 11 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., with the final played at 4 p.m.
The event, presented by the Berks County Tennis Association, will benefit City of Reading (COR Tennis) program through Reading Recreation Commission for scholarships for underserved youth tennis players.
Tickets are available online now at www.newcobrands.com. Prize money for the event is $9,000.
This is the fifth year of the event, with past champions Denis Kudla (2020), Makund Saisikumar (2021), Sumit Nagal (2022), and Fillip Misolic (2024).
On Tuesday, Aug. 13, at 7:30 p.m. at Hampden Park, the ATP Pros from the event will conduct a one-hour junior clinic presented by Diadem at the home of COR Tennis for juniors ages 12-18. RSVP for the Junior clinic are available by emailing berkscountytennis@gmail.com or calling 610-451-2401. Spots in the junior clinic are $40/player with proceeds of the clinic benefiting COR Tennis.
“The BCTA and Emkey Family is excited to yet again bring world-class tennis to Berks County with six ATP Professional Tennis Players, four of which will be playing in the US Open. Tennis is a sport that brings people together and unites us in more ways than one, and we are excited to give our area the opportunity to see world-class tennis up close,” said Event Director Ryan Knarr.
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