By Karen Ronney

World class women’s pro tennis is happening with the San Diego Open WTA 500 and high school players and teams are invited to watch the qualifying matches for FREE on Saturday and Sunday, October 8-9, at Barnes Tennis Center. It’s an incredible opportunity to have fun, learn and get inspired as 16 of the Top 20 ranked female players will be competing in an amazing venue.  The Southern California Tennis Association Foundation is proud to be a sponsor of this event.

There will be a 28-player singles main draw and a 16-team doubles main draw, all featuring the best two-out-of-three matches. In addition, there will be a 24-player singles qualifying draw that will vie for six main draw entries. To date, No. 1 ranked Iga Swiatek (Poland) leads the field and the top American players entered in the main draw are Sofia Kenin, Jessica Pegula, Coco Gauff, Danielle Collins and Madison Keys.  Here’s how it works: high school coaches can bring their players and any other parents or chaperones to watch the matches for free only this Saturday and Sunday. These are the qualifying rounds and it’s going to be great tennis.  Please email the total number of people coming from the school to Linda Milan, the Executive Director of the Southern California Tennis Association Foundation at Lmilan@sctafoundation.org. Once she confirms your request, she will arrange for the tickets to be picked up at Will Call under the high school name.

The deadline for this opportunity is Thursday, October 6, so please reserve your seats to be a part of this historic event.

“We’re so excited to give high school players a chance to see some of the world’s best tennis right in our own backyard,” said Linda Milan, the Executive Director of the Southern California Tennis Association Foundation.  “It can be a fun team bonding event as well as a great source of motivation.”

The San Diego Open WTA 500 will be at Barnes Tennis Center and matches start at 10 am on both the Stadium and Court 1 consecutively throughout the day.Onsite parking is limited so here are some options:

  • Off-site parking and shuttle: $20 (advanced purchase) and $25 at the lot
  • Shuttle passes can be purchased for $20 in advance at SeatGeek or $25 at the South Shores lot entrance.
  • Shuttle service runs every 30 minutes between Barnes Tennis Center and South Shores from one hour prior to every session until 30 minutes after the last session.

Complete tournament information can be found at www.barnessdopen.com. For tickets during the rest of the tournaments go to seatgeek.com. For more information about the Southern California Tennis Association Foundation, CLICK HERE.

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About Southern California Tennis Association Foundation – Founded in 1986, the Southern California Tennis Association Foundation is a 501c3 nonprofit organization and is the charitable arm of USTA Southern California.  The Foundation’s mission is to “Change lives and build communities through tennis.” Since 2020, the SCTA Foundation has had a community impact of giving over $600,000 in tennis grants and tennis scholarships to deserving youth, adults, tennis organizations, tennis facilities and tennis programs to make tennis an equal opportunity sport, accessible to all, regardless of age, ability, ethnicity, or economic background. Visit us on Social Media on InstagramFacebook and Twitter. To learn more about the SCTA Foundation go to: www.sctafoundation.org.  To donate go to: sctafoundation.org/donate/.