U.S. Open Qualifying: Rain Rain Go Away

Rain making life miserable for those trying to play their way into the main draw at next week's U.S. Open via qualifying this week. 

Many matches were postponed on Tuesday, but some Americans who have a good chance to play their way into the main draw did advance between the rain drops.  Robert Kendrick, Bobby Reynolds, and Ryan Harrison were all first-round winners on Tuesday.  Nicolas Mahut, who had the marathon match with John Isner at Wimbledon is in the qualifying as is American junior player Jordan Cox who was a Wimbledon juniors finalist last year.

Marsel Ilhan of Turkey is the top seed in qualifying but he faces a tough opponent in Bernard Tomic of Australia.  Other Americans to watch this week on the men's side include Jesse Witten, Rajeev Ram and Steve Johnson.  A couple other Americans to root for include former top-100 player Amer Delic who is coming back from missing more than a year of action with a knee injury and former college standout at Arkansas Blake Strode who won the open to anyone USTA National Playoffs to get a wildcard into the qualifying fray. 

In women's play there are plenty of names you would be familiar with.  Sania Mirza, Jelena Dokic, Laura Robson and Shenay Perry are all in the qualifying draw.  Other Americans to keep an eye on are Madison Keys, Irina Falconi, and Sloane Stephens. 

Action in qualifying is always fast and furious as these players are hungry to advance.  Admission is free and you will also see many of the main draw players practicing on the grounds. 

The best bargain in tennis is U.S. Open qualifying.