Former College Standouts Qualify For US Open

All three guys dominated at the college level. All three guys are American. And now all three guys have the chance to make noise at the US Open.

Rhyne Williams, Bradley Klahn, and Bobby Reynolds each came through in one of the biggest matches of their life to qualify for the US Open.

Williams, 21, was a two time All-American at the University of Tennessee, and after two years of success he decided to turn pro. Williams has been constantly climbing the rankings in the year and a half he's been on the tour and came into the Qualifying tournament ranked 283 in the world.

In the final round of qualifying, Williams was matched up with Germany's Petr Gojowczyk, the world number 197. Williams came out guns blazing and took the first set 6-3, and the second set was no different as the match ended with Williams clinching his first career grand slam berth 6-3, 6-2. Williams will face off against the 2003 US Open Champion and American tennis icon, Andy Roddick in the first round of the main draw.

Reynolds, 30, has been somewhat of a journeyman on the tour since leaving Vanderbilt after his junior season, but has made a good living and has a current ranking of 149. With the opportunity to play in his ninth Open, Reynolds was faced up against a young Spaniard, Sergio Gutierrez-Ferrol.

The match didn't start out well for Reynolds, as Gutierrez-Ferrol broke him early and raced out to a 3-1 first set lead. But just as the doctor ordered, Reynolds broke right back to even the match, and it stayed even until the first set tiebreak, which Reynolds claimed 7-5.

The second set saw Gutierrez-Ferrol getting frustrated with the rowdy American crowd and he got down an early break as a result of being flustered. Reynolds then never looked back and punched his ninth ticket to the US Open 7-6(5), 6-3. Reynolds will meet fellow American qualifier Tim Smyczek in the first round of the main draw.

American Bradley Klahn qualified for his second US Open Friday. Here he is hitting a backhand in the 2010 Open.

Klahn, 22, and the only one of the three to stay all four years in college excelled at Stanford. In 2010 he claimed the NCAA singles crown which earned him a wildcard into the Open. There he actually took a set before falling in four sets in the first set to fellow American Sam Querrey.

Out of the three guys Klahn probably had the toughest matchup, as he had to battle against the former world number 36 and current number 113, Florent Serra of France.

Klahn dominated his service games as he didn't face a single break point and converted both of his on Serra's serve, to claim the match and clinch his second US Open berth 6-4, 6-4. Klahn will face 2010 French Open Semifinalist, Jurgen Melzer of Austria in the first round of the main draw.

24 year-old American Tim Smyczek also qualified for the Open with a 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-5 win over the world number 89, Ricardas Berankis of Lithuania. As stated earlier, he will face Reynolds in the first round of the main draw.

The lone American qualifier on the women's side was 17 year-old Samantha Crawford of Florida as she defeated Eleni Daniilidou of Greece 6-3, 1-6, 6-4.

Great Day For American Tennis

In an era where American Tennis isn't automatically considered a top tier tennis country, Thursday was one of the days American Tennis Fans come to appreciate as they have suffered through a lot of rough ones as of late.

In Winston Salem the 'Twin Towers' John Isner and Sam Querrey both advanced on to the semifinals of the ATP 250 event.

Isner did so by edging past the up and coming 58th ranked 21 year old Belgium David Goffin 7-6(5), 6-3. Isner lit up the court in the first set with his serve by producing a jaw dropping 16 aces in the set alone. Although he only had 5 aces in the second set his proficiency while serving remained outstanding. Just as the first set, he didn't face a break point in the second and finished the match off by breaking Goffin's serve for the second time.

While David Goffin is an up and coming talented player, Sam Querrey faced a much more difficult test in his Quarterfinal match with the world number 15 Alexandr Dolgopolov. Querrey was able to pull through past the crafty Ukranian by being efficient on his serve just like Isner. He didn't face a break point in the deciding set and came up clutch in the tiebreak to punch his spot in the semifinals with a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6(3) win over Dolgopolov.

While guys like Isner and Querrey are prepping themselves in a US Open tune-up event, there are some other guys who are working their tails off just to get a chance to compete in the Open.

Five Americans advanced to the final round of qualifying Thursday meaning those five are now just one win away from a spot in the US Open and the opportunity to show test their talents with the very best players in the world.

Daniel Kosakowski, Tim Smyczek, Rhyne WIlliams, Bradley Klahn, and Bobby Reynolds were the Americans to advance to the final round of qualifying.

Kosakowski, a 20 year-old who turned pro after his Freshman year at UCLA had perhaps the most difficult matchup of the five as he had to battle with the second seeded Aljaz Slo Bedene who is also ranked 82nd in the world, meaning Bedene just missed a direct acceptance to the Open.

Kosakowski struck first in the match taking the first set, but after dropping the second, the match and the chance to advance one step closer to the main draw was hanging in the balance with a third set tiebreak. Kosakowski though played the big points better eking out the tiebreak 9-7 and claiming the match 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(7).

All five Americans competing Friday will not only be competing for a chance to do something special in the Open, but also for a nice paycheck to throw in the wallet as a first round loser in the Open will be taking home $23,000.

Sam Querrey picks up big win in Winston Salem

                                         Sam Querrey rips a backhand in his Winstom Salem  
                                         third round match win against Feliciano Lopez.

The world number 28 and American number 4 Sam Querrey picked up a nice win over the lefty Spaniard Feliciano Lopez 6-3, 6-4 in Winston Salem Wednesday afternoon.

Sam worked through the match against the crafty southpaw by utilizing an array of powerful serves (12 aces) and converting on 3 of 5 break points.

Querrey now moves on to the Quarterfinals for a sure tough match against the winner of Alexandr Dolgopolov and David Nalbandian.

Up now watching some US Open Qualifying on CBS Sports Network. Nice move by them to broadcast this coverage.

Will be posting my thoughts on sports, with a large focus on tennis here very often.

      Pierce