Oracle Challenger Series to Return to Newport Beach, Indian Wells in 2019

Series Began in Chicago, Now in Houston and Culminates in Southern California

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Nov 14, 2018, 08:00 ET

INDIAN WELLS, Calif., Nov. 14, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The Oracle Challenger Series announced today that it will be returning to Southern California for two events in early 2019, to be held at the Newport Beach Tennis Club on January 21-27, 2019 and at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden on February 25 - March 3, 2019.

The Oracle Challenger Series launched earlier this year with inaugural events in Newport Beach and Indian Wells. Taylor Fritz and Danielle Collins captured the titles in Newport Beach, while Sara Errani and Martin Klizan triumphed in Indian Wells. The Series, which has a mission of providing new opportunities for up-and-coming American tennis players to secure both ranking points and prize money, restarted earlier this year, expanding to include events in Chicago (September 2-9) and now Houston (Nov. 10-18).

The Newport Beach and Indian Wells tournaments will conclude the 2018-2019 Series, and be instrumental in determining which two American male and female players receive wild cards into their respective singles main draws at the 2019 BNP Paribas Open. The two American women and two American men who accumulate the most points over the course of the four events in the Series will be awarded the wild cards into the largest ATP World Tour and WTA combined two-week event in the world, held annually at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. Last year, Bradley Klahn, Reilly Opelka, Amanda Anisimova and Collins earned the wild cards. Collins and Anisimova made the most of the opportunity as they each reached the Round of 16, the best performances of their professional careers to date.

"Oracle launched the Challenger Series to help more tennis players compete at a high level here in the United States," said Oracle CEO Mark Hurd. "We've received overwhelmingly positive feedback from players and fans, and Oracle is committed to the Series in 2019. Newport Beach and Indian Wells are terrific venues for winter tennis. We'd love to see a big turnout from fans."

Each tournament in the Series is a joint ATP Challenger Tour/WTA 125K Series event and pays equal prize money ($150,000 per Tour) for a total of $300,000. All Oracle Challenger Series tournaments are free and open to the public.

For more information about the Oracle Challenger Series, visit oraclechallengerseries.com.

About the Oracle Challenger Series
The Oracle Challenger Series, which was created to offer American tennis players unparalleled opportunities to secure both prize money and ranking points, builds on Oracle's commitment to help support U.S. tennis for men and women at both the collegiate and professional level. The Series features equal prize money in a groundbreaking tournament format that combines the ATP Challenger Tour and WTA 125K Series.

The Series offers an unmatched potential prize of wild cards into the main draw of the BNP Paribas Open, widely considered the top combined ATP World Tour and WTA professional tennis tournament in the world, for the top two American male and female finishers.

About Oracle
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SOURCE Oracle