Two Cincinnati natives have been awarded wild cards to participate in the Western & Southern Open.
Seventeen-year-old Caty McNally (pictured above) will make her main-draw debut, while 20-year-old JJ Wolf will play qualifying at this year’s tournament, which will be held Aug. 10-18 at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason, Ohio.
McNally, who turned pro in April, will be playing W&S Open singles for the first time after previously playing doubles at the tournament in 2017. Last month, she made her Grand Slam main-draw debut at Wimbledon after qualifying. She has enjoyed success at ITF 100K tournaments this season, winning the title at February’s Midland, Mich., event without dropping a set and later reaching the semifinals at Surbiton in June.
As a junior, McNally was runner-up in singles at the 2018 French Open, and she also enjoyed junior doubles success with titles at the 2018 US Open and French Open, along with a runner-up finish at Wimbledon. She reached a career-high ranking of No. 6 in the ITF World Junior Rankings earlier this year.
Wolf turned pro in July after three successful seasons at Ohio State University. He capped his Buckeye career with a 35-2 season in which he was the ITA All-American Singles Champion and was named Big Ten Player of the Year. He was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year in 2017, despite only playing the spring season after graduating early from high school.
Earlier this year, Wolf won the title at the Columbus Challenger. He will be bidding to reach his first ATP singles main draw after reaching the final round of qualifying at last year’s W&S Open.
“It is a great opportunity to have homegrown talent playing at the Western & Southern Open,” said Tournament Director Andre Silva. “Both Caty and JJ have been attending this event with their families for years. It has been exciting for the local tennis community to follow their careers, and we’re looking forward to seeing them compete here not only this year, but hopefully for years to come.”
In 2018, the Western & Southern Open attracted more than 194,000 spectators. The reigning singles champions are ATP No. 1 Novak Djokovic and WTA No. 5 Kiki Bertens. In addition to world-class tennis, the W&S Open features more than 25 musical acts, 16 food vendors, six signature bar areas and a retail plaza for patrons to enjoy between matches.
The Western & Southern Open, a WTA Premier 5 and ATP Masters 1000 tournament, is part of the US Open Series. Started in 1899, the tournament annually supports a number of Cincinnati area charities.
Tickets for all sessions are on sale now at wsopen.com.