By Erik Gudris | Saturday, May 3, 2014

 

Robby Ginepri will make a return trip to Paris after clinching a USTA wildcard berth into Roland Garros by winning the Tallahassee Tennis Challenger.

Photo Credit: Jacob Stuckey/Tallahassee Tennis Challenger

Robby Ginepri made the most of his time at the Tallahassee Tennis Challenger this week in Tallahassee, Florida. Not only did he win the title, but he also walked away with a wildcard berth into the main draw of this year's French Open.

Throughout the week, the 31-year-old Ginepri found himself trailing in the cumulative standings for the Har-Tru USTA Pro Circuit Wild Card Challenge to Paris based on combined results from the Challenger events in Sarasota, Savannah and Tallahassee. When Daniel Kosakowski and Alex Kuznetsov lost early, that opened the door for Ginepri.

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Ginepri faced off against Ireland's James McGee in Saturday's semifinal knowing a win would seal his ticket to Paris. Taking control early, Ginepri raced away with a 6-1 first set. Though McGee would rally, Ginepri held him off to close out the 6-1, 6-4 win thus clinching his wildcard berth.

In the final, Ginepri defeated Canada's Frank Dancevic 6-3, 6-4.

“I’m thrilled to go back to Paris, it’s a special place for me,” Ginepri said. He also joked: “I’ve said this in press conferences there, but I think they named RG after me—Robby Ginepri—not Roland Garros.”

Though currently ranked No. 442 in the world, Ginepri once held a career high ranking of No. 15. Ginepri is the last active U.S. man to reach the fourth round of Roland Garros (2010) and the only current active U.S. man to compete in a Grand Slam semifinal (US Open, 2005).

"It’s a big accomplishment, especially with all of the injuries and ups and downs I’ve had,” Ginepri said who will now make his ninth main draw appearance in Paris. “Last year and the year before, I was contemplating retiring. If this week didn’t go well, I could have pulled the trigger on that, as well. This is a good reward and I’m definitely eager to work as hard as I can leading into the French and fight hard.”

The women's USTA wildcard berth into Roland Garros is yet to be decided. Grace Min and Taylor Townsend are still in contention.