Draws Announced for US Open Qualifying Tournament
August 22, 2006 | Men's Tennis
Aug. 22, 2006
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Former Illini Ryler DeHeart, Amer Delic and Rajeev Ram begin their journey at the 2006 US Open as the USTA announced the brackets for the 2006 US Open Qualifying tournament set to take place from Tuesday, Aug. 22-25, in Flushing Meadows, N.Y., at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. DeHeart looks to open his US Open career with a bang, while Delic and Ram have the burden of facing each other in the opening round.
Delic, who garnered the No. 32 seed in the qualifying draw, embarks on his fourth US Open appearance overall and seeks his third berth into the main draw, with his farthest run coming in 2004 when he fell in the second round of the main bracket. Ram, however, is a veteran compared to his former Illini opponent, entering the tournament for the sixth time in his career and looking for his third main draw appearance having made it in 2004 and 2005. Both will face each other in the first round of the qualifying tournament, with their match time and court location still to de determined. The victor of the opening-round dual will meet a Spaniard in the second round in either Alex Calatrava or Marcel Granollers-Pujol.
DeHeart opens the 2006 US Open festivities with a match against Rainer Eitzinger of Austria, also a first time competitor at the American grand slam event. The 2006 Illini graduate is coming off a tremendous hard court season, having swept the doubles and singles title at the Lewis and Clark Community College Future Tennis Tournament on July 30, followed by a finals appearance at the USTA-Ursula Beck Futures tournament on Aug. 5. DeHeart and Eitzinger's match time and court location has yet to be determined. Should DeHeart win, he would face either No. 16-seeded Paul Capdeville of Chile or Michael Russell of the United States in the second round.
DeHeart, Delic and Ram all are vying for the top 16 spots in the qualifying event, each of which earn berths into the US Open main draw that begins on Monday, Aug. 28.
For a complete look at the tournament brackets, results and schedule of play for the 2006 US Open, visit www.usopen.org for more tournament information.
