Fratangelo wins US Open Wild Card Challenge

Bjorn Fratangelo had great success competing in Grand Slam tournaments as a junior, and now the 22-year-old from Pittsburgh will try to take that success to the next level when he makes his Grand Slam main-draw debut at the 2015 US Open.

Fratangelo, a 22-year-old from Pittsburgh, earned a main-draw wild card into the 2015 US Open by winning the USTA Pro Circuit’s US Open Wild Card Challenge. He finished the challenge with 83 points after reaching the final of the $50,000 Challenger in Binghamton, N.Y., and semifinals at the $100,000 Challenger in Aptos, Calif., and the $50,000 Challenger in Lexington, Ky.

Fratangelo has won nine USTA Pro Circuit and ITF-level singles titles over the last three years. He competed in US Open qualifying in 2011 and 2013 but did not win a match, and he has also competed in qualifying for Wimbledon and the French Open. He is currently ranked a career-high No. 106 in the world after his results on the USTA Pro Circuit over the past three weeks.

In 2011, Fratangelo became the first American since John McEnroe in 1977 to win the French Open boys’ singles title. As a junior player, he was ranked as high as No. 2 in the ITF World Junior Rankings and competed on the Junior Davis Cup team. He is coached by USTA national coach Stanford Boster.

2012 US Open girls’ champion Samantha Crawford, 20, of Tamarac, Fla., will compete in the US Open main draw for the second time in her career after winning the USTA Pro Circuit’s women’s US Open Wild Card Challenge two weeks ago.

Click here for the final men’s and women’s wild card challenge standings.

USTA Player Development awards a US Open main-draw wild card to one American man and one American woman who earn the most ATP World Tour and WTA ranking points in a series of USTA Pro Circuit hard-court events over the summer. The men’s events comprising this year's US Open Wild Card Challenge included the $50,000 Challengers in Binghamton and Lexington, as well as the $100,000 Challenger in Aptos. The women’s tournaments included the $50,000 events in Stockton, Calif., Sacramento, Calif., and Lexington.

Ranking points from two out of the three men’s and women’s events were used and combined to calculate the point total and determine the US Open wild-card recipient. If a player competed in more than two events, only his or her two best tournaments were counted in calculating the point total. Only players who did not earn direct acceptance into the US Open were eligible for the wild card.

The USTA first used the US Open wild card format for its 2012 wild cards, won by Steve Johnson and Mallory Burdette, both of whom reached the third round of the US Open. In 2013, Bradley Klahn and Shelby Rogers earned the wild cards, with Klahn winning his first-round match. And, last year, Nicole Gibbs reached the third round of the US Open (her career-best Grand Slam result), while Wayne Odesnik earned the men’s wild card. The USTA also utilizes this wild card challenge format for the French Open and Australian Open.

The US Open will take place at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York from Aug. 31-Sept. 13.