Tournament Information
Qualifier - Entries Being Accepted Here
Since reviving this tournament in 2004, both the size and competitiveness of the draw has grown with each passing year. In each of the last three years, we have been forced to make difficult decisions regarding participants in the field. We have had to cut some very talented players in order to arrive at the field of 64.
The Purnell-Thomas Committee feels it is important to give opportunities to as many players as we can accommodate. We have decided to offer a qualifying tournament to be held on Saturday & Sunday, August 13 & 14. We are going to limit this event to the first 32 players to enter. A USTA membership is not required and the tournament does not count toward USTA rankings. Registration has begun and canl be done via our tournament website.
Entering the qualifier guarantees the first 32 players a chance to play your way into the main draw. There will be four spots for qualifiers. The intent of the qualifier is to give Mid-Atlantic and Middle States players an opportunity to earn your way in. The cost to play in the qualifier is $50. If you qualify, your $75 entry fee to the main draw is waived. If you enter only the main draw, you are leaving it up to committee decision which will be based on the level of the 2011 applicants.
To give you some guidance, this is generally how we make decisions. If you have a current, or recent (within the last year or so), ATP singles or doubles ranking, you get in. Last year, we seeded 16 and had then-currently-ranked ATP singles players unseeded in the draw.
We generally look next at collegiate teams and rankings. This is where it starts to get subjective. Last year we had over 20 players from the ACC, many nationally ranked. We do our best to accommodate these and other local universities.
After that, we are comparing apples to oranges – Division III national champions to Division II ranked players to USTA national and ITF ranked juniors. Throw in a few sponsor exemptions and we have a lot on our plate. Quality players have been left out in the past few years.
In NTRP terms, 7.0’s are in. 6.0’s very likely are in. Most 5.5’s will be borderline. Very few 5.0’s will get straight in, if any. For 5.0 and below, I would recommend signing up for the qualifier.
Any cuts that need to be made for the main draw will be made after the deadline for the qualifier. Therefore, you must make a decision prior to the qualifier deadline of Wednesday, August 10. The decision of which event to enter is yours. If you have further questions, or want an opinion, please email Steve Soliday at seagulltennis@comcast.net.
General Information
This is a $30,000 men's prize money tournament that benefits Coastal Hospice in Salisbury, Md. This is not a USTA or ATP sanctioned event and will not count toward state, sectional, national or ATP rankings. To submit an entry for either the main draw or the qualifier, please visit our tournament website and fill out the online entry form. The tournament committee will review main draw applications and select competitors based on their own criteria which will include ATP points, national and sectional USTA rankings as well as collegiate rankings. Please supply us with any information that will aid us in our decision making process.
Money is paid starting in the round of 32 for singles and the round of 16 for doubles. Byes, if any, do not count as wins. A player receiving a bye must win a round before any prize money will be paid. Players are asked to check in on Tuesday, August 16th in person in Salisbury, Md. There is a pro-am and player party at the tennis courts that evening and the draws will be unveiled at that time. Free housing is available upon request for the main draw and will be with a local host family. Please expect to play your first round match between 10:00 AM and 1:00 PM on Wednesday, August 17th.
Facilities
We will be using the 12 outdoor hard courts at Salisbury University for all matches. There are three nice indoor courts available on campus for practice in case of inclement weather. These may be used during the qualifier for matches, but likely will not be used for the main draw unless the committee feels we are too far behind and must make use of them. The indoor courts play very much like the outdoor courts and are painted exactly the same (thick baselines and such), but have direct flourescent lighting.
Entries
As we receive entries, we are putting them into the tournament software. To verify that we have received your entry, clickhere. Click then on the appropriate event. In the case of the qualifier, these are the actual competitors. In the case of the main draw, this is only a list of received entries, not committee selections. Should we exceed 64 applicants in singles or 32 in doubles, we will then meet as a committee to go over applicants and select the field.
Hospitality
Free housing is available to all players and will be with a local host family who will provide transportation to and from the courts if needed. There is a pro-am and player party on Tuesday, August 16th at the tennis courts and a player party Saturday, August 20th. Players are encouraged to come to both events if possible. On other nights, dinner is served at the courts and is donated by local restaurants that are sponsors of our event. There is a shuttle service available to players from BWI International Airport in Baltimore, Md. This service is provided by Bayrunner Shuttle, another of our sponsors. BWI also houses an Amtrak station.
