Wessen Lawn Tennis Club

Michigan State Star’s Win Over Michigan Rival Highlights Opening Day At U.S. Grass Courts In Pontiac

June 21, 2018 by Admin

Jack Winkler’s first-ever grass court tennis tournament at the U.S. Grass Court Championships Presented by Doner resulted in another first – a win over his long-time friend and rival Connor Johnston.

Winkler, an upcoming sophomore at Michigan State University, registered his first-ever match victory over Johnston, a standout at rival University of Michigan, 7-6(4), 6-2 in the opening round of this $10,000 U.S. Tennis Association open grass court tennis tournament at the Wessen Lawn Tennis Club in Pontiac, Michigan.

“We’ve been playing each other since the 10s or the 12s and we practice all the time,” said Winkler. “I kind of know his game, he knows mine. Luckily this turned out for me this time.”

Both players laughed when the draw for the event was made and they were drawn to face each other in the first round. It marked the third straight tournament that each have played where they incredibly faced each other in the first round. Playing on grass was more advantageous for Winkler’s more aggressive playing style, which helped him finally break through and beat his good friend for the first time.

“I worked hard at school on my game. I just felt like everything was clicking today,” said Winkler. “Playing on grass it favors my style my playing style, he is more of a defensive player and counter-puncher. I’m more of an offensive guy. I think the conditions favored me today.”

The opening round match between representatives from the University of Michigan and Michigan State University was appropriate on the opening day of this new event, which is attempting to raise the stature of tennis in Michigan and grow in stature to become an international professional tournament on the ITF “Futures” level or the ATP Challenger-level circuit. The club, which has received recognition and attention from the New York Times in 2014, has a long-term goal of one-day hosting a pre-Wimbledon ATP World Tour 250-level tournament.

“It’s awesome,” said Winkler of the four-year-old Wessen Lawn Tennis Club. “It Iooks really cool. The first thing when I came here, I was really excited to play. I couldn’t wait to get out there.”

The leading entry in this event is Evan Song of Henderson, Nevada, ranked No. 440 in the ATP World Tour rankings. Other leading entries include Jordan Parker of Detroit, ranked No. 1,520 in the ATP World Tour rankings, as well as several other former ATP-ranked players, and top world 16-and-under players Sebastian Gima of Romania and Josh Lapadat of Canada. Plays continues through Saturday with matches starting at 11 am and featuring nightly 6 pm night matches.

Jack Winkler (left) with Connor Johnston

ATP-Ranked Pros, College Players, Top Juniors Compete At New U.S. Grass Court Championships In Pontiac, Michigan

June 19, 2018 by Admin

World-ranked ATP professionals, top college players and juniors will be competing June 20-23 at the $10,000 U.S. Grass Championships Presented by Doner at the Wessen Lawn Tennis Club in Pontiac, Michigan. The event is an open prize-money tournament, serving as a test event for a potential larger official professional grass court tennis tournament down the road.

John Mullane of White Lake, Michigan, a former All-American from Michigan State, will take on the ATP World Tour No. 584 Deiton Baughman of Carson, California, a practice partner for the U.S. Davis Cup team this year, in the feature 6 pm match Wednesday in the opening day of play. Mullane and Baughman are among 33 players from around the country competing in this tournament and vying for the $3,000 first prize. The tournament features three ATP world-ranked players in all, led by No. 1 seed Evan Song of Henderson, Nevada, ranked No. 442 on the ATP World Tour, Baughman, the No. 2 seed, and No. 3 seed Jordan Parker of Detroit, ranked No. 1,520. University of Michigan standout Connor Johnston and Michigan State star Jack Winkler are also in the field, as well as internationally-ranked junior players Sebastian Gima of Romania and Joshua Lapadat of Canada.

Play starts at 11 am on Wednesday with first round matches. A feature 6 pm feature match will be played Wednesday, Thursday and Friday night in advance of Saturday’s finals.

In 2015, Mullane reached the doubles semifinals of the NCAA Championships with partner Harry Jadun and thus becoming the first pair of All-Americans in doubles in Michigan State tennis history. Once ranked No. 1,745 on the ATP World Tour, Mullane recently returned to international competitive tennis for the first time in three years last week by reaching the second round of qualifying of the USTA Pro Circuit event in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Baughman is fresh off reaching the singles final at the USTA Pro Circuit event in Buffalo, N.Y. In February, he was selected by U.S. Davis Cup captain Jim Courier to be a practice partner for U.S. Davis Cup team in their first round match against Serbia, sparring with team members John Isner, Sam Querrey, Stevie Johnson and Ryan Harrison. Baughman has won three ITF Pro Circuit “Futures” singles title and nine in doubles. He played in the main draw of doubles at the Miami Open in 2014 and the U.S. Open in 2015.

The general public are invited to attend the matches, including a special $90 daily package to play on the grass (an organized clinic or open play) including an open-grill dinner with a beverage, plus court-side match viewing. A “season-pass” to play and watch tennis and dine each day of the event cost $250. The club does enforce an all-white clothing rule, just like the All England Lawn Tennis Club at Wimbledon.

This first-year event is branded the U.S. Grass Court Championships, to reflect the club’s future ambitions to one day host a bigger event, potentially a ITF Transition Tour event, ATP Challenger or ATP World Tour event.

The Wessen Lawn Club, located just 30 minutes from downtown Detroit, features 24 perennial-rye grass courts, the exact type of specific grass courts as Wimbledon. The latitude and climate of Pontiac is also very close to that of London, sitting at 42 degree latitude vs. 51 degrees latitude for London allowing for the perennial rye grass to be in the same condition as at the All England Club and providing for an excellent North American training stop for any player planning to play in Wimbledon, Wimbledon qualifying or in the Wimbledon junior championships. Many tennis observers have called the facility, including an immaculately decorated clubhouse, as one of the best tennis clubs in the country.

“We’d like to be a stop for player who want to get a few days under our immaculate grass courts before taking off on a direct flight out of Detroit to Britain,” said Bill Massie, the owner and architect of the Wessen Lawn Tennis Club to WorldTennisMagazine.com here: http://www.worldtennismagazine.com/archives/14624. “Our goal is to get a few players who want to get while also giving other players a competitive opportunity on grass to gain experience on the surface and a chance to earn some prize money.”

For information on tickets, sponsorship, tournament entries and hospitality on the grass courts during the event, contact Randy Walker at 917 770 0843 or Rwalker@NewChapterMedia.com

$10,000 Men’s Open Grass Court Prize Money Tournament To Be Held In Pontiac, Michigan June 20-23

May 26, 2018 by Admin

The Wessen Lawn Tennis Club, and its pristine 24 perennial rye grass tennis courts, will be hosting a $10,000 Open Grass Court Prize Money men’s singles and doubles tournament, June 20-23 in Pontiac, Michigan.

The event, which is open to all entries, will offer a first-prize of $3,000 to the singles winner, $1,500 to the singles runner-up, $750 to losing semifinalists and $500 to losing semifinalists. The doubles winners will split $1500 and the doubles runners-up will split $500.

Entries are accepted on TennisLink.com here: https://tennislink.usta.com/tournaments/tournamenthome/tournament.aspx?T=221594#&&s=1A3 or via email to Randy Walker at Rwalker@NewChapterMedia.com

The first-year event is branded the U.S. Grass Court Championships, to reflect the club’s future ambitions to one day host a bigger event, potentially a ITF Transition Tour event, ATP Challenger or ATP World Tour event.

The Wessen Lawn Tennis Club is an amazing and beautiful tennis club that was featured in the New York Times in 2014 here: https://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/09/sports/tennis/a-touch-of-wimbledon-in-pontiac-michigan.html

A video of the club can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snjxMgFMOtg

“Our goal is to get a few players who want to get while also giving other players a competitive opportunity on grass to gain experience on the surface and a chance to earn some prize money.”

For information on sponsorship, hospitality, tickets, pro-am and recreational tennis opportunities on the grass courts during the event, contact Randy Walker at 917 770 0843 or Rwalker@NewChapterMedia.com

Wimbledon Warm-Up Event In The Works For Pontiac, Michigan

July 14, 2017 by Admin

A Wimbledon grass court tune-up event may be in the cards for North America.

The Wessen Lawn Tennis Club in Pontiac, Michigan, just outside of Detroit, is starting to plan to host a grass-court preparatory tournament in June of 2018. The tournament will be a non-sanctioned men’s prize money tournament for aspiring grass-court pros and juniors.

The facility, that was profiled in the New York Times in 2014, features 24 perennial-rye grass courts, the exact type of specific grass courts as Wimbledon. The latitude and climate of Pontiac is also very close to that of London, sitting at 42 degree latitude vs. 51 degrees latitude for London allowing for the perennial rye grass to be in the same condition as at the All England Club and providing for an excellent North American training stop for any player planning to play in Wimbledon, Wimbledon qualifying or in the Wimbledon junior championships. Many tennis observers have called the facility, including an immaculately decorated clubhouse, as one of the best tennis clubs in the country, if not the world.

The planned tournament will be played either the week after the French Open (June 11) or the second week after the French Open (June 18) during the week of the Queen’s Club and Halle ATP events. The event would likely end on a Saturday so as to allow for an overnight flight to Britain

“We’d like to be a stop for player who want to get a few days under our immaculate grass courts before taking off on a direct flight out of Detroit to Britain,” said Bill Massie, the owner and architect of the Wessen Lawn Tennis Club. “Our goal is to get a few players who want to get while also giving other players a competitive opportunity on grass to gain experience on the surface and a chance to earn some prize money.”

Massie’s ultimate long-term goal for his club is to host an ATP 250 level professional event with a shorter term goal being to host a men’s and/or women’s challenger tournament. For now, the club will start with a prize money tournament for better flexibility in scheduling and in how the event is run. Massie is working with former USTA marketing executive Randy Walker, also the current tournament director of the USTA Pro Circuit men’s event in Vero Beach, Florida, on developing the event.

For more information on the event, including on sponsorships, tickets, pro-ams or entries, contact Randy Walker at Rwalker@NewChapterMedia.com or 917 770 0843.