Newport Preview

With Wimbledon done, we have one last grass court gasp before the surface fades into memory for the next 11 months: the Hall of Fame Championships in Newport, Rhode Island. Since it's the week after Wimbledon, it doesn't usually draw the greatest players in the game (since they're either resting or readying themselves for the Davis Cup) but it is the first tournament on U.S. soil for several weeks, and always has a handful of middle-tier American players happy to be back in action after what was surely a long and often frustration European clay court tour. I'll take a quick look today at some of the interesting storylines heading into this week.

Sam Querrey is the top seed in this tournament, and he opens against Jesse Levine another young American who doesn't really have Querrey's weaponry. Sam made it to the final here last year, where he lost (surprisingly) to Rajeev Ram. I think he'll do one better this year - he already won at the Queens Club, which had a much, much tougher field to work through. If he wins that, he'll get to play the number one Jamaican player Dustin Brown, who is starting to put his game together and become a solid top-100 player, which I'm excited about.

Unfortunately for another American in the draw, Taylor Dent lost to perennial qualifier Go Soeda from Japan in the first round. Dent wasn't able to put together the kind of grass court season that he was hoping for, and this isn't the best way to end it. It's a benefit for another player in this section, though - young Australian Carsten Ball, who I think should see Querrey in the third round. They played in last year's Los Angeles final, and it was a fine match.

The second quarter of the draw has Olivier Rochus, fresh off his near-upset of Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon, as well as big Australian lefty server (much like Ball) Chris Guccione. The defending champ, Rajeev Ram, is also in this section, but I admit that I'll be shocked if he can repeat his title run from last year. He's good on the grass, but he was a lucky loser here last year - everything broke his way.

Mardy Fish is in the third quarter, as well as Federer's recent near-upset opponent Alejandro Falla. We'll see how Falla can deal with that close call - his first round opponent should have a bit of understanding about it, because it's former Rhode Island finalist and loser of the longest match in tennis history, Nicolas Mahut. I hope he can win this one - he deserves a win after player for so long and coming up empty.

I'm really excited about the last quarter, for one reason - it has young American Ryan Harrison, who upset sixth seed Karol Beck in the first round already. I think that he has a good draw, and could possibly make it to the quarterfinals here. Maybe this will be his coming out tournament; I really think Harrison is the next big name in U.S. tennis, and he should be top-20 bound, at comparable levels to where Isner and Querrey are right now. But he'll have to get there one step at a time, and a deep run into this tournament for the 18-year old would be a fine way to do it.