Opportunity Tournament Winners Urbina, Kinard and Tan Awarded Wild Cards to Mercury Insurance Open Qualifying

CARLSBAD, Calif., July 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Tournament officials announced today that the winners of the 2010 Mercury Insurance Open Opportunity Tournaments, Nazari Urbina of Tijuana, Mexico, Tori Kinard of Pasadena, Calif. and Stacey Tan of Lakewood, Calif., have been awarded wild cards into the qualifying draw of the Mercury Insurance Open Presented by Tri-City Medical Center which begins at 10 a.m. on July 31 at the La Costa Resort and Spa.

Urbina captured the San Diego Opportunity Tournament at the San Diego Tennis & Racquet Club. The 21-year-old Tijuana resident recently completed her freshman year at Texas A&M where she is on a tennis scholarship. Earlier this year, she became the Aggies' first freshman to be selected to compete in the NCAA Division I Women's Singles Championships. She is ranked 1,050 on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour rankings (as of 07/19/10).

Kinard won the San Clemente Opportunity Tournament at the Rancho San Clemente Tennis & Fitness Club. The 22-year-old from Pasadena plays Challenger and International Tennis Federation (ITF) Circuit events. She is coached by her older brother, Travis, who plays collegiate tennis for UCLA. She is ranked 977 on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour rankings (as of 07/19/10).

Tan was victorious at the Pacific Palisades Opportunity Tournament at the Riviera Tennis Club. The 19-year-old, who lives in Lakewood, finished her freshman year at Stanford University earlier this year where she compiled a 30-9 record in singles. She also posted a singles victory in the 2010 Women's Tennis NCAA National Championship as she helped Stanford to a 4-3 victory over the University of Florida.

"We are very happy to have these three very talented players in our qualifying draw. The Opportunity Tournaments help local area players develop their games and gain valuable experience. It was so impressive to see the high level of play at each event," said Raquel Giscafre, Mercury Insurance Open tournament director.

"This year's qualifying draw is going to be extremely tough. It will be very exciting to see how the three Opportunity Tournament winners fare against the competition," Giscafre added. "I encourage fans to come out to watch the qualifying because there are going to be many thrilling matches."

The Mercury Insurance Open Presented by Tri-City Medical Center features a strong player field, which includes 2010 French Open finalist Samantha Stosur, Russians Dinara Safina, Nadia Petrova and Svetlana Kuznetsova, Serbians Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic, Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova and Victoria Azarenka of Belarus.

Former two-time tournament champion Lindsay Davenport has accepted a wild card into the Mercury Insurance Open doubles competition, where she will partner with fellow American Liezel Huber.

Reserved Grandstand and Box Seat tickets, which range from $10-$125, are now available online at mercuryinsuranceopen.com or through Ticketmaster at ticketmaster.com. Tournament Ticket Packages are also on sale and begin at $70. For additional ticket information or to purchase tickets by phone, call (760) 930-7032.

The Mercury Insurance Open Presented by Tri-City Medical Center, a Premier 700 Sony Ericsson WTA Tour event offering $700,000 in prize money, marks the return of women's professional tennis to Carlsbad after a two-year hiatus. The event will be televised on Tennis Channel and ESPN 2, and will comprise one of the 10 events of the Olympus US Open Series. For additional information about the Mercury Insurance Open, log onto http://www.mercuryinsuranceopen.com/; join us on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/SDTennis); or follow frequent updates on Twitter (http://twitter.com/MercuryInsOpen).

Mercury Insurance Group, title sponsor of the Mercury Insurance Open Presented by Tri-City Medical Center, is offering tennis fans the once-in-a-lifetime chance to win a trip to the 2010 US Open. Contestants can register to win a package that includes airfare, hotel and VIP tickets to the Open by visiting www.mercuryinsurance.com/tennis. No purchase is necessary to enter or win. You must be a legal California resident 18 years of age or older with a valid driver's license to participate in the sweepstakes.

About Mercury Insurance: Founded in 1962, Mercury Insurance (MCY) is a multiple-line insurance organization offering predominantly personal automobile and homeowners insurance through a network of independent agents and brokers in California, Florida, New Jersey, Texas, Arizona, New York, Georgia, Oklahoma, Illinois, Michigan, Nevada, Virginia and Pennsylvania. For more information about Mercury Insurance, visit www.mercuryinsurance.com.

About Tri-City Medical Center: Founded in 1957 to serve the healthcare needs of coastal North San Diego County, Tri-City Medical Center is a full-service, acute care hospital with (500) physicians practicing in 60 specialties. The Medical Center is administered by the Tri-City Healthcare District, which includes most of Carlsbad, Oceanside and Vista. For more information about Tri-City Medical Center, please visit www.tricitymed.org.

About the USTA: Now in its seventh season, the Olympus U.S. Open Series has established itself as a true regular season of hard court tennis, linking 10 summer tournaments to the U.S. Open. Fans can follow the action with nearly 200 hours of live television coverage, culminating each week with back-to-back men's and women's finals every Sunday afternoon. Players battle for more than $37 million and a chance for bonus prize money at the U.S. Open. In 2008, Olympus became the first title sponsor of the Series. The Olympus U.S. Open Series is also supported by sponsors American Express, Evian and Grand Marnier.

Sam Querrey won the 2009 Olympus U.S. Open Series men's title and Elena Dementieva won the women's title. In 2007, Roger Federer collected the biggest paycheck in tennis history—$2.4 million—for winning the U.S. Open and the Olympus US Open Series. In 2005, Kim Clijsters captured both the U.S. Open and the Olympus U.S. Open Series, winning $2.2 million—the largest purse in women's sports history.

About Octagon Tennis: Octagon has a rich and proud history in the sport of tennis, having managed the careers of 63 Grand Slam Champions and 11 Olympic gold medalists over three decades. In addition, Octagon owns or manages more professional tennis events than any other agency with WTA and ATP events including the Kremlin Cup, Brasil Open, the Movistar Open and the Western & Southern Financial Group Championships, which is also part of the Olympus US Open Series, among others. For more information, please visit www.octagontennis.com.

SOURCE Mercury Insurance