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.