Australian Open Wild Card Playoffs Coming to Peachtree Corners

Professional tennis is coming back to town. The (RCS) in Peachtree Corners is set to host the Australian Open Wild Card Playoffs Dec. 16-18.

Eight men and women will compete in the wild card playoffs. The event also features an exhibition match on Friday, Dec. 16 that will be played in a World TeamTennis format with U.S. Davis Cup Jim Courier and USTA Player Development General Manger Patrick McEnroe serving as the team captains.

It's the third consecutive year that the event has been held at the RCS.

“The Racquet Club of the South has been a great host for our Australian Open Wild Card Playoff the past two years," said McEnroe. "The Atlanta tennis community has embraced the event and we expect interest to continue to grow in the coming years."

“The event is a great showcase for our players and promotes our philosophy of having them earn their way into Grand Slam events through competition," said McEnroe.

Teenagers Ryan Harrison and Lauren Davis won last year’s events to earn main draw wild cards into the 2011 Australian Open. 

Harrison also won the event in 2009.  Additionally, former Georgia Tech standout Irina Falconi won a USTA playoff to earn a main draw wild card into the 2011 French Open before subsequently reaching the third round at the US Open, and Madison Keys won a USTA playoff to earn entry into the 2011 US Open, where she became the youngest player to win a main draw US Open match since 2005. 

The fields for the wild card playoffs will be determined in the upcoming weeks.

For tickets and more information, go to www.australianwildcard.com.  USTA members can receive 10 percent off their ticket purchases by using the promo code: “usta10off”