Deadline nears for Wildcard tennis event

Friday is the entry deadline for the Oahu Club Wildcard Championships, scheduled for the following weekend in Hawaii Kai. The winner gets a wildcard entry into the 2013 Maui Challenger Jan. 20-27 at Wailea.

Go Sueda, who won last year’s Honolulu Challenger, is one of four players ranked in the Top 100 who have already committed to the USTA Pro Circuit event. Sueda, from Japan, is 60th in the world rankings. Taipei’s Yen-Hsun Lu is 59th and Japan’s Tatsuma Ito 79th. American Michael Russell, who has also won in Hawaii, is ranked 87th.

Americans Donald Young and Ryan Sweeting are also on the preliminary entry list.

Local players who have earned wildcards into the Challenger are Rong Ma (main draw), Jonathan Brooklyn (qualifying) and Kailua Racquet Club Night Doubles champs Jan Axel Tribler and Mikael Maatta (main draw doubles).

Qualifying for the Maui Challenger is Jan. 20-21, with free tennis clinics the second afternoon. The main draw begins Jan. 22 and the final is Jan. 27. Main draw matches begin at 10 a.m.