Impressive Talent at Mobile Futures

Introducing the top eight seeds in the 2008 Newton Cox USTA Men's Professional Tennis Classic...

The Futures tournament begins April 7 at the Newton Cox Tennis Center in Mobile, Alabama. The Futures is a series of tournaments for players ranked around 200 and below.

1. Gary Lugassy

Gary Lugassy is ranked 220 in the world. The left-hander from France loves hard courts. He has a double-fisted backhand. He has 10 wins and seven losses this year. He reached a career-high ranking of 194.

2. Josselin Ouanna

The Frenchman is ranked 231 in the world and loves to play on grass. He started playing at the age of five and is coached by Louis Borfiga. He loves soccer and basketball. He is the best friend of promising young French player Richard Gasquet. He has 11 wins and eight losses this year.

3. Izak Van De Merwe

Van De Merwe played for Old Dominion University. He is from South Africa and his hero is former president Paul Kruger. He loves golf and was a finance major in school. His favorite movie is the Gladiator, favorite book Kane and Abel by Jeffrey Archer. The player he most admire is Pete Sampras.

4. Ryler De Heart

The 24-year-old American is left-handed and prefers hard courts. He is ranked 291 and played for the respected program University of Illinois Fighting Illini.

5. Amir Weintraub

The 21-year-old was born in Reehovot, Israel. He is a right-hander and enjoys watching movies. His dad is Luis, mom Carol and Sisters Daliti and Irit. He is ranked 327.

6. Nicholas Monroe

Twenty-four-year-old Nicholas Monroe was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He is right-handed. He went professional in 2004 after playing for the University of North Carolina. He won five Futures tournaments.

7. Carsten Ball

Ball has ties in both the United States and in Australia. Officially, he plays for the Australian team and his father was a respected player from Australia.

8. Artem Sitak

Sitak is from Russia and celebrated his Futures victory in McAllen, Texas, in March. Sitak says he can tell when an opponent is getting frustrated and that is the time when he attacks.