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BERKELEY - The 2002 USTA Berkeley Futures Tournament begins Tuesday at the Hellman Tennis Courts on the Cal campus. The $15,000 prize money tournament is sure to feature hotly contested battles as budding tennis professionals fight for precious ATP points and money prizes (Collegiate players compete as amateurs and do not accept prize money.). The tournament features eight players ranked inside the world's top 500 in singles.  

Several local standouts will certainly draw vocal fans. Cal's John Paul Fruttero, fresh off last week's title run at the Sunnyvale Futures, will begin his assault on his home turf Tuesday in doubles and Wednesday in singles. Wednesday's match pits Fruttero against fourth-seeded Alun Jones of Australia, ranked 382nd in the world.  

Fruttero's recent win in Sunnyvale is his first Futures title and the best result of a Cal player in a pro tournament in recent years. In the final, he defeated Machihisa Onoda of Japan, seeded seventh at the Berkeley Futures.