Mitchell Frank of Annandale to compete in U.S. Open Wild Card Playoff

Mitchell Frank

2011 Annandale High School graduate Mitchell Frank will compete in the U.S. Open Wild Card Playoff Aug. 18.

The winner will receive a men’s main draw singles wild card into the 2011 U.S. Open, and a huge cheering section from Annandale could make the difference for Frank.

Tickets can be purchased online. There is a special two-for-one deal for Annandale residents. Call Reid Snyder at 301/779-8000 ext. 106. for details.

Frank is one of eight men who will participate in the playoff, the U.S. Tennis Association announced Aug. 15. The matches will take place at the Junior Tennis Champions Center in College Park, Md., where Frank trains.

Frank, an incoming freshman at the University of Virginia, was the  runner-up at the USTA Boys’ 18s National Championships last week in Kalamazoo, Mich.

Frank is scheduled to play at 7 p.m., against Daniel Kosakowski of Huntington Park, Calif., who turned professional after his freshman year at UCLA and recently won his first tour-level match at the Farmers Classic in Los Angeles,

Another local player, Denis Kudla of Arlington, will also take part in the Wild Card Playoff. Kudla, who reached the quarterfinals of the Hall of  Fame Championships in Newport, R.I., in July, is currently ranked No. 325 in the world and was the U.S. Open boys’ singles runner-up last year. 

Kudla will square off against Bjorn Fratangelo of Plum, Pa., who in June became the first American since John McEnroe in 1977 to win the French Open boys’ singles title.

Michell Frank at Wimbledon.