The new year will kick off with two Southern California USTA Pro Circuit events for the third consecutive year with the Southern California Pro Futures tournament being held at USC Jan. 2-8 and the Legends Long Beach $25,000 Tennis Tournament being contested at El Dorado Park Tennis Center Jan. 9-15.

Stefan Kozlov won the USC singles title last year

Legends Sports Bar in Belmont Shores is the new title sponsor of the Long Beach tournament, which will be run by new tournament director Brittnie Furuvald. Furuvald is taking over for Cathy Jacobson-Guzy, who, along with USC Men’s Tennis Coach Peter Smith, was instrumental in bringing pro tennis back to Long Beach two years ago. Furuvald, who played collegiate tennis at Vanguard University in Costa Mesa, announced a Pro-Am to take place on Jan. 8. For more information, email her at: brittnie@sctennisacademy.com.

The USC Pro Circuit Futures event will be directed for the first time by Phil Siordia, who left his position as an SCTA Tennis Service Representative to become the Director of Tennis at USC.

USC freshman Riley Smith won the Legends Long Beach Wild Card Tournament, and has earned entry into the main draw of the event. Smith beat his USC teammate Logan Smith in the final. Both USC Wild Card finalists – USC’s Brandon Holt and Thibault Forget – will gain entry into the USC Pro Futures event, according to Peter Smith.