Ginepri Wins Indianapolis, S.Querrey Squanders Another Final

In a battle between American speed and American power, speed ran circles around power.

Robby Ginepri won his third career title Sunday in Indianapolis, beating compatriot Sam Querrey 6-2, 6-4 in the final.  It was Ginepri's first ATP title in four years, since he won at Indianapolis in 2005, the same year he made the semifinals of the US Open.

Ginepri, who served for the match at 5-2 in the second before being broken for the first and only time, never looked out of control against his big-serving opponent.  Querrey seemed to struggle with glare on his serve much more than Ginepri did, which is understandable since Querrey is a full six inches taller than Ginepri, and therefore a full half-foot closer to the sun.

Someone like Ginepri coming out of nowhere to win Indianapolis was not entirely surprising.  The field lacked any top twenty players, so the seeds were pretty vulnerable from the beginning.  Only three of the eight seeds made it to the quarterfinals, and only one seed (#3 Querrey) made it to the semis.  Querrey was the only seed Ginepri faced on his way to the title. With the win improved his record to 3-0 in finals for his career.

On the flip side of that, Querrey's record in finals in 2009 fell to 0-3 with this loss (though his ranking does improve to a career high of 32).  The first final he lost this year was in Auckland to Juan Martin del Potro, a match no one expected him to win.  But the next two, Newport just two weeks ago and Indianapolis, were utterly winnable matches.  He was ranked 56 spots higher than Ginepri the week of Indianapolis, and 156 spots higher than Rajeev Ram, his Newport conqueror, the week of that tournament. 

Put more bluntly, these are matches Querrey should be winning, and for him to keep losing them could be a sign of bigger issues.  He's only won one final in his career, and that was against Kevin Anderson at the Tennis Channel Open in 2008.  Hardly great laurels to be resting on.

Since Indianapolis kicked off the great American ad campaign road trip known as the US Open Series, here are a look at how the standings on the men's side are looking after the first week:

US Open Series Standings:

1. Ginepri - 70 points
2. Querrey - 45 points
3. Tied: John Isner and Frank Dancevic - 25 points

Nice start for some players who could use a big summer, but don't hold your breath for any of those four to be in the money come Flushing Meadows time.