WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AUGUST 17, 2017) – Taylor Fritz, Borna Coric, Ernests Gulbis, and Petros Chrysochos have been awarded singles wild cards for the Winston-Salem Open, which begins this weekend. Christian Seraphim and Skander Mansouri have been awarded a doubles wild card, joining previously announced wild cards Leander Paes and Purav Raja. Additionally, the tournament announced today that American Sam Querrey has withdrawn from the field with fatigue.
“We think that our fans are really going to enjoy watching our wild cards this year,” said Winston-Salem Open tournament director Bill Oakes. “Taylor Fritz and Borna Coric are two of the most exciting young players on the ATP World Tour. Petros Chrysochos was the best player in college tennis last season, and Christian Seraphim and Skander Mansouri were the best doubles team. And Ernests Gulbis is an established veteran who is always fun to watch. We’re very excited to add them to our already strong field.”
One of the ATP World Tour’s #NextGen stars, Fritz became the youngest American to reach a tour-level final in almost 30 years when he made the championship match in Memphis last year at the age of 18. Fritz rose as high as No. 54 in the rankings in 2016 after also recording quarterfinal appearances at Atlanta and Acapulco. After suffering from injuries in early 2017, the California native is on the comeback trail this summer and recently reached the quarterfinals in Los Cabos and the semifinals of a Challenger in Aptos.
A quarterfinalist at last year’s Winston-Salem Open, Coric (CHOR-ich), from Croatia, will return to the tournament in 2017. One of the ATP’s #NextGen stars, Coric has been ranked as high as No. 33 in the world and currently sits at No. 50 in the ATP rankings and No. 3 in the #NextGen Race to Milan standings. Coric won his first ATP title this year at Marrakech and also made the quarterfinals at the Masters 1000 event in Madrid where he beat world No. 1 Andy Murray.
Gulbis will be returning to the Winston-Salem Open for the third time and the first time since 2015. A former top-10 player, the Latvian has won six ATP titles in his career. Gulbis’s best Winston-Salem Open appearance came in 2012, when he came through the qualifying (with a win over current top-10 player Dominic Thiem) to reach the third round of the main draw.
Chrysochos, a junior on the Wake Forest tennis team, will make his ATP World Tour main draw debut at the 2017 Winston-Salem Open. A two-time All-American, Chrysochos reached No. 1 in the college singles rankings this year and helped lead the Demon Deacons to the overall No. 1 team ranking and the top seed in the NCAA Tournament. Chrysochos has represented his native Cyprus in Davis Cup, including in doubles alongside Marcos Baghdatis.
Mansouri and Seraphim, both members of the Wake Forest men’s tennis team, will be returning to the Winston-Salem Open doubles draw after making their tour-level debut here last year. The Demon Deacon duo was ranked No. 1 in the country in doubles for much of the college season. Mansouri, a combined four-time All-American in singles and doubles, and Seraphim, a two-time doubles All-American, advanced to the semifinals of the 2017 NCAA Doubles Championship.
The Winston-Salem Open also lost a player on Thursday as American Sam Querrey withdrew, citing fatigue. Querrey had a busy summer, reaching his first Grand Slam semifinal at Wimbledon before winning the title at Los Cabos.
“Sam has had an outstanding summer, and while we’re disappointed that he won’t be coming to Winston-Salem, we completely understand that he needs to take the week off to prepare for the year’s final major.” said Oakes. “Sam has always been great to the tournament, and we hope to see him at the Winston-Salem Open next year and for many years after that.
The Winston-Salem Open also announced its qualifying wild cards today. Kyle Edmund of Great Britain, currently ranked No. 45 in the world, will be competing in the qualifying draw, as will Wake Forest sophomore Borna Gojo.