Copyright © 2016. No duplication is permitted without permission from Bob Larson Tennis.

2016 US Open girls’ champion Kayla Day remains in the lead going into the final week of the women’s USTA Pro Circuit Australian Open Wild Card Challenge. Day currently holds 109 points after winning the singles title at the W.L. Amos St. Tennis Classic in Macon, Ga., two weeks ago and reaching the semifinals at the Copperwynd Pro Women’s Challenge in Scottsdale, Ariz., this past week. Kristie Ahn, who reached the final in Scottsdale, is tied for second place in the challenge with Danielle Collins, who reached the final in Macon. Behind her impressive showings this fall, Day broke into the Top 200 for the first time this week; she is now ranked a career-high No. 195. The women’s wild card challenge concludes this week with the $50,000 Waco Showdown in Waco, Texas.

On the men’s side, young American Reilly Opelka won his first career USTA Pro Circuit singles title at the $50,000 Men’s Tennis Championships in Charlottesville, Va., this past weekend, defeating Ruben Bemelmans, 6-4, 2-6, 7-6(5), to claim 80 points and take an early lead in the men’s challenge. Opelka is now ranked a career-high No. 208. Men’s play continues this week with The Knoxville $50,000 Challenger in Tennessee.

All matches will be streamed live on www.procircuit.usta.com and can also be followed on the USTA Pro Circuit app by searching “procircuit” in the app store.

In the USTA Pro Circuit Australian Open Wild Card Challenge, the USTA awards a 2017 Australian Open wild card to the American man and American woman who earn the most ATP World Tour and WTA ranking points at two of the three select USTA Pro Circuit hard-court events this fall. Only Americans who did not earn direct entry into the Australian Open are eligible. The USTA and Tennis Australia have a reciprocal agreement in which wild cards into the 2016 US Open and 2017 Australian Open are exchanged. In the event of a tie, the player with the best ATP or WTA singles ranking will be awarded the wild card. The 2017 Australian Open main draw will be held Monday, Jan. 16, to Sunday, Jan. 29.

The USTA first used this wild card format in 2012 to award wild cards into the French Open and US Open and has been doing so ever since. Last year, young Americans Noah Rubin and Samantha Crawford earned wild cards into the Australian Open by winning the wild card challenge. This year, former top junior players Taylor Townsend and Bjorn Fratangelo each won the USTA Pro Circuit Wild Card Challenge for wild cards into the French Open, and Sofia Kenin and Ernesto Escobedo earned US Open wild cards by winning the US Open Wild Card Challenge this summer.

Copyright © 2016. No duplication is permitted without permission from Bob Larson Tennis.