News

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Tomas Berdych will compete in the Winston-Salem Open at Wake Forest University Aug. 18-25. He is the third wildcard player named to the tournament and is currently ranked No. 7.

Berdych is the second-highest ranked player in the field for the Winston-Salem Open, just behind No. 6 ranked Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. He claimed the seventh ATP World Tour singles title of his career earlier this year at Montpelier (Open Sud de France) and also teamed with Petra Kvitova to win the 2012 Hopman cup for the Czech Republic. Berdych has seven career ATP World Tour titles and has been a runner-up seven times.

He reached the finals at Wimbledon in 2010, beating Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic along the way before losing to Rafael Nadal in the finals. Berdych also reached the semifinals at Roland Garros in 2010 and climbed to a career-best No. 6 in the fall of 2010. He lost in the first round of the recent 2012 Olympics in London.

“Berdych is now part of a field of contenders for the Winston-Salem Open that is one of the strongest in all of the ATP tournaments this summer,” Winston-Salem Open tournament director Bill Oakes said. “Fans will really enjoy seeing Berdych play next week. He is known as a hard hitter with one of the best forehands and overall cleanest games on the ATP World Tour.”

Oakes said tickets to the tournament are in high demand as a result of the strong field of contenders. Seats are already completely sold out in the North and South Box Seats and chair backs section for the finals on Saturday, August 25.

Tickets to the Winston-Salem Open are available online at www.winstonsalemopen.com, by calling (336) 758-6409 or in person at the Wake Forest ticket office located at Bridger Field House at BB&T Field.

About the Winston-Salem Open

The Winston-Salem Open, an ATP World Tour 250 event with a total purse of $625,000, will take place from August 18-25, 2012, with qualifying set for August 18. The tournament will be the final men’s event of the Emirates Airline US Open Series. For more information on the 2012 Winston-Salem Open, please go to www.winstonsalemopen.com.

About the Emirates Airline US Open Series

Now in its ninth season, the Emirates Airline US Open Series continues to serve as a true regular season of hard court tennis, linking 10 summer tournaments to the US Open. Fans follow the action throughout the summer during national broadcast coverage while players battle for $40 million, including a chance for bonus prize money at the US Open. The Series collectively reached a U.S. television audience of 39 million and drew more than 800,000 on-site fans in 2011. In 2012, Emirates Airline became the title sponsor of the Series, as well as the official airline of the US Open. The Emirates Airline US Open Series is also supported by sponsors American Express, Chase, Citizen Watch Company, Esurance, Evian and Gatorade.

Americans Mardy Fish and Serena Williams swept the 2011 Emirates Airline US Open Series men’s and women’s titles. In 2007, Roger Federer collected the biggest paycheck in tennis history – $2.4 million – for winning the US Open and the Emirates Airline US Open Series. In 2005, Kim Clijsters also captured both the US Open and the Series, winning $2.2 million – the largest purse in women’s sports history – and equaled that amount in 2010, winning the US Open and finishing the Emirates Airline US Open Series in second place.