Hello everyone!

HOT7 is just days away! All of the draws have been posted. Match times will be posted late Monday or first thing on Tuesday. (I'm working on those right now!) In the meantime, here's a brief schedule of events and important information for you (in chronological order)!

Draw Party - Thursday, March 19th, 6pm - 9pm. The Draw Party kicks off a little earlier this year at 6pm at Rain on 4th (217 W 4th Street, Austin, TX 78701). We'll have your player bags there for you and it's a great time to socialize with other players and have a drink or two. Go easy, you have a match early the next morning! (Find your first round opponent and buy him a drink or 7.)

Play starts - Friday, March 20, 8am At UT Whitaker Courts (All Levels). All matches on Friday and Saturday will be played at the UT Whitaker Courts located at the corner of 51st St and Guadalupe. Check the website for match times. SUNDAY MATCHES WILL BE AT ANOTHER LOCATION! (See below. Sorry for the CAPS, but I wanted to make sure you saw that!)

Tournament Banquet - Saturday, March 21, 7:30pm - 10:30pm. UT Alumni Center (2110 San Jacinto Blvd, Austin, TX 78712) Come ready to socialize, mingle, and beat the odds. Have a seat and catch up with friend and competitors by the buffet tables, or wander around and beat the odds at the gambling tables. Don't forget to check out the silent auction and raffle prizes. We have some incredible auction and raffle prizes, including:

• TWO tickets to a US Open Match on Labor Day (Sept 7, 2009) in the Bronze Louge area. This includes a backstage pass to the grounds including press area, players lounge, and warm up area.
• Tickets to an exclusive SXSW "invitation only" party hosted by Perez Hilton. (The party starts around 10pm and goes until 4am, so be prepared to leave from the banquet to go right to the party!)
• Apple iPod Touches, and other cool stuff

Sunday Matches - All Sunday Matches will be at the brand new Austin Tennis Center. This brand new facility was completed just a few months ago. The center is located amout 5 miles east of IH35 off of Johnny Morris Road. All Semi's and Finals will be held at this location!

Hi all!

Draws for Open, B, and C Draws have been published. We're double checking the A draw for any errors we might have made and those should be uploaded Saturday. D Draws will be uploaded once we get the D Doubles draw finalized. If anyone knows of a D Doubles player that would like to enter to even things out, have them send me an email!

Thanks!
John Sanchez
Co-Tournament Director

For those that have called the host hotel in the last few days and were told they were sold out, we secured another 10 rooms today!

We will look at adding more rooms if these rooms sell out quickly! Please make your room reservations today!

So a couple of people have been wondering what's up with the logo.  It's not very "tennisy".  You're right.  It's not.  Here's a little bit of history...

The tournament committee was sitting around in one of our planning meetings, talking about all the cool things we wanted to do.  So Scott comes up with this cool idea:

So how about we have a casino night at the banquet?

So that's what we did. The banquet this year will be Saturday, March 21st at 7pm at the UT Alumni Center. Join us for drinks, food, and casino fun. We'll have more details as we get closer to the tournament date, but we thought we'd let you in on a little info early!

We can't wait to see you in March!

This year's host hotel will will be the Crowne Plaza located at the intersection of IH35 and US Highway 290. 

We have secured a block of rooms at the rate of $119/night.  This is a great rate, considering the location and all of the SXSW events in Austin.  Please make your reservations EARLY. Hotels in the area always sell out on SXSW weekend so the sooner you make your reservations, the better.  Reservations can only be made up until February 26, 2009.

Crowne Plaza
6121 N IH 35
Austin, TX 78752
512-323-5466

Call Crowne Plaza to take advantage of this rate.  Simply mention you are with Austin Tennis Club/HOT7 when you make your reserveration.

Tournament Dates: 

Friday, March 20 - Sunday, March 22

HOT7! Once again, it's right around the corner already and we're working like crazy to make this year better than ever.

So this question this year is: "Are you feeling lucky?"  We've got some really cool things in store for you this year and we're very excited to get things underway.

Once again, our tournament coincides with the annual SXSW Music Festival! For those of you that have never been, SXSW is a crazy weekend here in the Live Music Capital of the World. Hundreds of bands and artists (and thousands of fans), travel from around the world for a week's worth of entertainment. Because SXSW is such a popular event, make your travel plans EARLY. This event is HUGE.  Due to time constraints, A, B, and C Singles draws will be limited to a maximum of 64 players. Open and D Singles draws will be limited to 32 players.

We're just far enough away from downtown to avoid all of the commotion and traffic that's associated with such a huge weekend here, but still close enough to make all of the parties and bands in downtown easily accessible.

This year, we are even more honored to be part of GLTA's Masters Series.  

The online entry form is up and running so sign up today! Hotel information, including a link to book your hotel, will be up and available shortly.

We hope to see you all in Austin for our favorite tournament of the year!

HOT7 Tournament Committee
Austin Tennis Club Board of Directors.