LOS ANGELES (Jan. 3, 2016) – Men’s professional tennis will kick off the new year with two consecutive men’s USTA Pro Circuit Future events in Los Angeles on the campus of USC and in Long Beach at El Dorado Park Tennis Center.

This is the second consecutive year the events are taking place to start off the year, but prize money for both has increased from a total of $15,000  for each event to $25,000 .

Qualifying for the event hosted by USC and played at the Marks Tennis Stadium began on Saturday, with main-draw action taking place starting on Tuesday, Jan. 5. The singles final for the USC tournament will be held on Sunday, Jan. 10 and the doubles final will take place on Friday, Jan. 8. The Long Beach event is Jan. 11-17.

Start times Monday through Friday are 10 a. m. with the semifinals on Saturday set to begin at 11 a. m. and the singles final Sunday also at 11 a. m.

“It’s great to be able to kick off the new year with some exciting professional tennis in Los Angeles and USC,” said tournament promoter and USC Men’s Tennis Coach Peter Smith. “Last year we had a great event and got to see rising American players like Taylor Fritz and Stefan Kozlov. This year with the increased prize money we have an even stronger field in both singles and doubles.”

Most of the same players will play in both tournaments, the second of which will take place at El Dorado Park in Long Beach Jan. 11-17 and led by tournament director Cathy Jacobson-Guzy. Smith, who played college tennis at Long Beach State in the 1980s, has another connection to the Long Beach event as he and Mitch Bridge operate the Southern California Junior Tennis Academy out of the El Dorado Park Tennis Center.

At the USC tournament, Tennys Sandgren is the top-seeded player finishing a strong 2015 with an ATP singles ranking of No. 261 in the world. Sandgren played college tennis for two years at the University of Tennessee and advanced to the semifinals of the NCAA Singles Championships in 2011, losing to teammate, roommate and doubles partner Rhyne Williams in three sets. Colombia’s Nicolas Barrientos comes in as the No. 2 seed at No. 294. During his career, Barrientos has won five ITF singles titles and 10 in doubles.

The remaining seeds with current world ranking are as follows: Forrmer UCLA standout Nicolas Miester (No. 302), Canadian Philip Bester (No. 303), former University of Kentucky star Eric Quigley (No. 314), Cezech Republic’s Robin Stankek (No. 317), rising American teenager Stefan Kozlov (No. 351) and Carson’s Deiton Baughman (No. 357).

Other notable Americans in the main draw include current UCLA No. 1 Mackenzie McDonald (No. 371), West Covina teenager Ernesto Escobedo (No. 393), former Michigan All-American Evan King (No. 414), 17-year-old American Michael Mmoh (No. 455) and former All-American and four-year Illinois star Dennis Nevolo (No. 621).

Qualifying kicked off Saturday and was highlighted with wins by the top-two seeded players, who both helped USC win NCAA team titles as No. 1 Yannick Hanfmann and No. 2 Raymond Sarmiento both posted straight-set wins. The No. 3 seed is University of Virginia’s Collin Altamirano, who back in 2013 became the first unseeded player to win the USTA Boys’ 18s Hardcourt Nationals at Kalamazoo, Mich.

The USC wild cards are local high school senior Brandon Holt of Rolling Hills, Calif., and current USC player Robbie Bellamy. The USTA has granted wild cards to 2015 NCAA singles champion from Virginia Ryan Shane and former Vanderbilt All-American Gonzales Austin.

For more information including draws and schedules, check out procircuit. usta. com. For more information on the Southern California Tennis Academy run by Smith and Mitch Bridge, go to sctennisacademy. com.

To follow all the action on Twitter, go to: @USCMensTennis and also follow: @USTAProCircuit.

Community events this week at USC include:

Wednesday, 11 a. m.-1 p. m., On-Court Workshop and USPTA College Recruiting Information presentation featuring Peter Smith, USC Men’s Head Coach. Lunch provided.

Thursday, 11 a. m. to 1 p. m., presentation featuring new SCTA Director of Junior Tennis Trevor Kronemann. Director of SCTA Junior Tennis. Lunch will be provided. Topics include new tournament formats and SCTA junior tennis plans for 2016.

Friday, 2 p. m. to 4 p. m. Community Tennis Awards Reception; Sharing the Pancho Gonzales Story. Featuring Richard Gonzales and the Pancho Gonzales Foundation.

Saturday, 9 a. m. to 10:30 a. m., FREE Kid’s Day at USC. Free tennis, pizza, prizes, & fun. Open to players of all levels.

For more information or to RSVP for the USC special events, contact Phillip Siorida at Psiordia@scta. usta.com or 310-209-5905. Everyone is invited to attend both tournaments free of charge.

Community events the following week at El Dorado Park Tennis Center in Long Beach include:

Thurs., Jan. 14, 1 p. m., Long Beach Parks and Rec. Employee Appreciation Day. Drinks, desert, and watch pro tennis for free.

Fri., Jan. 15, 8:30 a. m. to 9:30 p. m. Free Cardio Tennis workout.

Sat., Jan. 16, 9:15 a. m. to 10:30 a. m. Free Kid’s Day.

For more information or to RSVP for the Long Beach special events, contact Tiffany Mai at Tmai@scta. usta.com.