Going into the Open
As usual... the momentum from our event carries us to watch the Open closely. Watching the wild card selections, hoping for the qualifiers, and searching for a few good wins, even miracle wins from a few of the guys who were here 2 weeks ago.

We had a great event in Binghamton this year and as a result, we again get to watch the Open with some specialized interest. Mark Philippoussis opens against #2 Rafael Nadal... tough draw on that one. The way he has been playing suggested he could've had a few wins but tough to go up against the #2. If he were to somehow get past #2, looks pretty good for a 2nd week stay though.

The actual wild cards had a few surprises. Our champ, Scott Oudsema, only received a wild card into qualifying. Maybe he isn't quite ready for the big stage like some others... Simmonds did get one as well as Kuznetsov, along with last year participants Jenkins and Odesnik. Wonder what Scott's thoughts are on that. Not a big deal though because he will get his in the next few years. Oudsema had a tough draw against Jesse Witten in the 1st round of qualifying. Witten ended up qualifying... Okun got through as well.

Andy Murray will again be of interest, still an unbelievable story from last year and even more potential to do damage. He has a decent draw too. Falla is also in there as a qualifier.

At the same time, the ATP has announced even more changes to the game in the next year. It is unfortunately looking to reduce the 5 set finals. One really great thing was a Sunday start potential. Also looking to increase the round-robin effect... which could be interesting. Significant changes over the current 3 year span. Hopefully some of the media coverage will change too. Those 5th set brawls certainly can be dramatic. Hopefully we'll get our fill in the Open!