American tennis' leading launching pad returns in 2020.

The Oracle Challenger Series announced its return to Southern California for two events in early 2020.

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The third stop of the 2019-2020 series takes place at the Newport Beach Tennis Club January 27th – February 2nd.

The Indian Wells Tennis Garden hosts the final tournament on March 2nd-8th. Each tournament is open to the public free of charge.

Now in its third year, the Oracle Challenger Series provides Americans a shot to secure both ranking points and prize money on U.S. soil.

The Newport Beach event has propelled its champions to career-defining seasons. Americans Taylor Fritz and Danielle Collins began their rankings rise by capturing the titles at the 2018 inaugural event. Bianca Andreescu’s 2019 title marked the beginning of her meteoric rise to WTA stardom as she became the first Canadian to capture a Grand Slam singles title as the US Open.

Likewise, the Indian Wells event has featured some of the Challenger Series’ strongest player fields and produced champions Martin Klizan, Sara Errani, Kyle Edmund and Viktorija Golubic. The two American men and two American women who accumulate the most points over the course of the Challenger Series receive wild cards into the singles main draws at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.

The Newport Beach and Indian Wells events will conclude the 2019-2020 Road to Indian Wells and are instrumental in determining which American players receive wild card berths at the 2020 BNP Paribas Open.

At the halfway point of the Challenger Series, Houston champion Marcos Giron holds the top spot for the men. Usue Arconada is in first place for the women following an impressive showing in New Haven with finals appearances in both singles and doubles. Trailing just behind them are Tommy Paul, the men’s champion in New Haven, and CoCo Vandeweghe, the women’s runner-up in Houston.

Photo credit: Mark Peterson/Corleve