Sam Querrey Wins US Open Series

With a 7-5, 6-3 win over Bjorn Phau, Sam Querrey advanced to the quarterfinals of New Haven, and clinched a first place finish in the 2009 US Open Series.  Ranked outside the top 20, Querrey is the first player outside of the top five to win the event on the men's side.

Querrey won the promotion (and a doubling of his US Open prize money) through quantity, more than consistant excellence.  He entered the main draw of all six US Open Series tournaments, and was the only player to do so. He won the Los Angeles title and made the finals in Indianapolis (the two smallest events on the Series), but lost in the first round in Montreal.  He also has only twice faced a top ten opponent--both times Andy Roddick, splitting their two meetings.

I asked Sam during his only press conference in Washington if winning the US Open Series was a goal of his, and he said it was.  "It'd be cool to say you were the best player that summer," he said.

Whether he was the best this summer is debatable at best, but he showed a commitment to the US Open warm-up tournaments, which is what the series is designed to reward.

I think this in the long run is a good thing for the US Open Series.  The change this year to make the non-Masters tournaments more valuable in the series prevented players like Federer or Nadal from winning the six tournament competition even though they entered only two tournaments, which is exactly what had happened the past two years.  If Querrey is successful at the US Open and winds up doubling a good amount of prize money, look for some stronger fields potentially at tournaments like Indianapolis and Los Angeles in 2010.

What do you think--is having a US Open Series champion like Querrey preferable to a Nadal or Federer winning it?