Honolulu, HI (11/7/08) – Hawaii Pacific University No. 1 singles player, Hendrik Bode from Lehrte, Germany wins the coveted Wild Card entry into the 2008 Honolulu Futures.

Bode claimed victory over Matthew Short from Beckenham, Great Britain 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 to secure his place in the singles main draw of the Honolulu Futures. Short, who currently holds a No. 496 Junior Tennis Global rank in the Boys 18, defeated Sydney Jim of Sugar Land, Texas in the semifinals 6-1, 1-6, 7-5.

In the previous round, Bode defeated Nail Khabiyev from Brooklyn, New York in the 6-3,6-3. Bode currently holds a No. 16 singles rank in NCAA Division II and lost in the qualifying round of last year’s Honolulu Futures’ Qualifying event.

The other main draw singles Wild Card was given to Hawaii Grand Prix Singles Champion, Jan Tribler, a former Hawaii Pacific University player from Denmark.

Over 15 junior, college and adult Hawaii players joined entrants from California, Texas, Maryland, Florida, New York, British Columbia in this Wild Card Championship.

All Wild Card entrants earn a spot in the main draw of their respective event and will need to win a match to receive ATP points.

Approximately 54 players from Hawaii, mainland U.S. and various countries have signed up for the Qualifying tournament for the Honolulu Futures. This men’s event, November 8-10, will determine the final eight singles players in the 2008 Honolulu Futures Main Draw scheduled to begin November 11. All Qualifying and Main Draw matches beginning at 10am.

Several of the professionals in the Qualifying event have come from playing the Mauna Lani Kohala Coast Futures event earlier this month.

The Main Draw of the 2008 Honolulu Futures will feature 32 singles players and 32 doubles teams. The highest ranked player is No. 409 Uladzimir Ignatik of Belarus.

The Honolulu Futures, a USTA Pro Circuit event, is the largest tennis event on Oahu, Hawaii and attracts many up-and-coming professional players from around the world.