COLUMBUS, Ohio – This week, Francesca Di Lorenzo, a rising sophomore on the Ohio State women’s tennis team, has received a wild card spot into the US Open qualifying draw and been selected to compete in the American Collegiate Invitational at the 2016 US Open.
Di Lorenzo, from New Albany, Ohio, received one of eight wildcards into the US Open qualifying draw, which will be held Aug. 23-26 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y. Last year, Di Lorenzo reached the semifinals of the US Open junior tournament in both singles and doubles.
The America Collegiate Invitational will be held Sept. 8-10. The women’s field is comprised of the top two players in the WTA rankings (as of July 18) and the top five players in the year-end Intercollegiate Tennis Association singles rankings (excluding those selected by pro ranking), including at least two graduating seniors or players who have turned pro/exhausted their collegiate eligibility. Di Lorenzo was ranked fourth at the end of 2016.
The American Collegiate Invitational, open only to American college players, began in 2014 as a way to spotlight college tennis during the US Open. Eight men and eight women play single-elimination singles tournaments during the second week of the US Open, with the winners receiving a wild card into the 2017 US Open, main draw or qualifying, depending on their ranking next summer.
The American Collegiate Invitational women’s champion will receive a 2017 US Open main draw wildcard if she is ranked No. 150 or better. Otherwise, the winner will receive wildcard entries into the US Open Qualifying Tournament. The champions will also get wildcards into two USTA Pro Circuit events, while each runner-up will receive one.
This summer, Di Lorenzo, currently ranked No. 374 in the world in singles and a career-high 632 in doubles, claimed both singles and doubles titles at the $25K Winnipeg National Bank Challenger. At the Lexington Challenger she recorded a win over 158-ranked Grace Min in three sets. Di Lorenzo was ranked a personal-best No. 347 in singles August 1.
Di Lorenzo had an outstanding first collegiate campaign. The Big Ten Player of the Year and Big Ten Freshman of the Year, she became just the third Buckeye to claim All-America honors. She was the No. 3 seed in the NCAA singles championship and reached the Round of 16 in the tournament. Di Lorenzo won the ITA National Indoor Championship in the fall, the first ITA national title for the program.
An Ohio State Scholar-Athlete, Di Lorenzo was 37-5 on the year, setting the program record for single-season wins. All four of her losses during the spring came in three sets, with three of the four to Top 15 ranked players. Di Lorenzo, rated the top newcomer in college tennis in the fall, was ranked in the Top 5 all spring, including four weeks as the No. 1 player (the first in program history).
Di Lorenzo and the Buckeyes won both the outright Big Ten regular season title and the Big Ten Tournament championship and were the first Buckeye squad to host NCAA matches and reach the quarterfinals.
