RSF Open tennis tourney festivities begin on Sept. 30

One week before the WTA 500-level San Diego Open plays host to some of the world’s top women’s players at Barnes Tennis Center, the Rancho Santa Fe Tennis Club will host the second annual Rancho Santa Fe Open Oct. 3-9.

Debuting last fall, the Rancho Santa Fe Open is part of the USTA Pro Circuit and ITF World Tour and offers $80,000 in prize money, as well as valuable WTA World Tour ranking points. The event will attract WTA players ranked from No. 50 to No. 300 in the world, along with their support teams and families. Last year, top-seeded Rebecca Peterson of Sweden beat American teenager Elvina Kalieva in straights to win the first RSF Open.

The RSF Open’s “Opening Day” festivities will kick off the tournament on Friday, Sept. 30 at 5 p.m. The night will include an opening ceremony and sponsor recognition, pro doubles exhibition, and appetizers and drinks with the community and incoming players.

“We are excited to once again bring world-class tennis to Rancho Santa Fe and the surrounding North County area,” said Tournament Director John Chanfreau in a news release. “Because of the WTA 500 tournament at Barnes Tennis Center the following week, we are looking to possibly have players that are top 50 in the world, which would be a big deal for our community and for our tournament.”

Chanfreau has announced two Southern California players who have been granted wild cards into the tournament. They include the nation’s ITA preseason No. 1 player Eryn Cayetano from USC and 17-year-old Katherine Hui of San Diego. Hui, a Santa Fe Christian School senior who is headed to Princeton, recently competed in the US Open Junior Girls’ tournament and placed fourth at the USTA Hardcourt Nationals at Barnes Tennis Center in August.

The presenting sponsor of the tournament is Gillian Gillies and Prentiss Van Den Berg of Compass.

“As strong community supporters and members of our RSF Tennis Club, we are thrilled to be the presenting sponsor for this year’s $80K RSF Open,” said Gillies. “When asked to contribute we immediately jumped in.”

Van Den Berg added: “The RSF community has shown that it loves the tournament as the audience gets bigger and bigger every year. As our own local US Open, it is inspiring to watch our new tennis hopefuls courtside.”

For more information, check out the tournament’s website bit.ly/3RRZ27a
More player announcements and other tournament news will be announced in the coming days.

Title and family sponsorships are available for the tournament. For more information, contact Stacey Lankford Pennington at stacey@slpurbanplanning.com