I didn't know where else to start talking about this - and it seems too early to start a US Open thread - but the women's list of wild cards was announced today. The biggest name amongst them is an Outsports favorite, the lovely Miss Chanda Rubin!

Eight American women were awarded the coveted slots, as follows: USTA Girls' 18s National Champion Mary Gambale, Girls' 18s finalist Alexa Glatch, Carly Gullickson, Ashley Harkleroad, Angela Haynes, Jessica Kirkland, Shenay Perry, and Rubin.

It's a nice looking list, I'd say. You can see why these girls were awarded the wild cards. Which leads me to wonder where the most underserving perrenial wild-carder is ... Alexandra Stevenson? Last I heard, her injuries had healed and she was ready to comeback, but I can't find anything new on her. She wasn't even awarded a wild card into qualifying (not sure if she would need one, but my guess is that she would). So I'm curious as to whether she's injured, has given up, has been given up on, or what gives in general? Curiouser and curiouser ...

did zuzana zemenova get into the draw? the open used to award wild cards automatically to the ncaa champion...but i'm not sure if this is still automatic with the influx of foreign born collegiate stars. i think they stopped doing this a year or two ago, though i could be mistaken. even though i'm not crazy about the number of foreign-born players in D1 tennis, i still think the wild card should remain. i feel strongly about this...

I'm not sure about that. The article I read was on TennisWeek.com and it focused on Americans. But it looks to me like those are the only wild cards available. I only see these women listed on the US Open's official site as well. So it doesn't seem to me like she's been awarded anything.

I think they've replaced giving wildcards to the NCAA champions with giving them to the USTA junior champions (Donald Young/Mary Gambale).

the junior champ has always gotten a wildcard as well. i think he's super-hot, but why in the hell did jan-michael gambill get a wildcard?????

Jan-Michael used to be ranked fairly high ... he may have even gotten into the top twenty at one point, no? After he made the quarters of Wimbledon? Plus, he's American and he's a name.

The real scandal is the USTA snub of Andy Murray after he made a splash at Wimbledon and was awarded a wild card to this week's tourney. People apparently thought the USTA would work out a deal with Wimbledon for a wild card exchange, the way the French and Aussie Opens do, but no.

I'm happy that beautiful Andy Ram got a wild card. I'd love to see him in person. And Scoville Jenkins - who had to suffer Andy Roddick's ego and macho bullshit in the first round last year - also got a wild card. I hope he stays far away from Roddick.

wow...murray should be in. gambill is a has been. almost a never-was.

i like jenkins, but he looked hopelessly out of his league last year. i understand he's not done well in the 12 months since. even though he'd have gotten crushed, i would like to have seen a wild card go to sam querrey, loser to donald young at kalamazoo (won 16's last year i believe). he and young are being talked about as the future of american tennis as the latest "crop" doesn't seem like it's gonna' pan out.

looking forward to seeing glatch and kirkland play as well, though i'm not expecting much.

I have been informed by a friend of mine that Andy Ram is a beautiful Israeli and he did not receive a wild card, but a much less attravice American player with the same last name is in fact the wild card recipient.

Good thing I have friends to keep me in check. Of course, he also likes to create screen names and randomly start threads insulting Gabriela Sabatini just for shits and giggles. So we'll call it even. wink

I saw that on another website...it is Rajeev Ram who got the WC. Of course, I thought the other website had it wrong, since you're always very knowledgeable GG.

That's very sweet, Shep! I am a little surprised to find out that anyone listens to what I say, ha ha, but thank you very much. wink

I try to know what I'm talking about most of the time. The good news is that I'm never one to fake it. When I'm being a big moron or have said something that is 100% wrong as it could be, I'm more than happy to fess up ... just as soon as someone lets me know!

D'OH!

Rajeev Ram is quite cute, I've seen him in Indy a few times. Actually, way too skinny for me, but he's not a bad looking guy.

On a related topic (or should I open a new thread for this) who here is going to the US Open? I know Gaby is ... who else? My BF & I will be there Friday for qualies & then the first Monday night & Tuesday day. If anyone is going then we can connect (that is how I met the infamous hammerman in Indy)!

Actually, I'll be out of town for the majority of the Open. Only going for the day session on Monday. I love going on the first few days, though. Ashe Stadium sucks for viewing. It's far more fun to have a grounds pass and walk around.

I can't believe that Murray didn't get a wildcard. He's played so well this summer and is obviously one of the brightest young stars. What a rip. I'm getting excited about those upcoming night matches!

I noticed Scoville Jenkins knocked off Nieminen in 3 sets today at the Pen Pilot...

I'll throw this into the US Open chit-chat thread because 3 of the guys below received wildcards into the Open draw......
I've noticed recently (probably from a biased point of view) that a lot of America's young male talent is emerging from the Atlanta area. Robbie Ginepri, Bobby Reynolds, Scoville Jenkins, and Donald Young (as well as a struggling Brian Vahaly) all call the Atlanta metro area home. Most of those guys probably came up thru the well developed local leagues such as ALTA--with about 80,000 members and the local USTA branch. There are leagues and ladders for the junior players here as well as tournaments almost every weekend. I know the favorable year round climate for tennis and the near cult-like following for tennis in the sprawling suburbs create a fertile ground for future tennis players. But I'm curious as to the tennis scene, especially for future talent, in other areas of the country.

Atlanta has a very active tennis community. Several years back, there was a story about it in TENNIS magazine ... I'm talking over 10 years ago, because I still lived in Georgia at the time. And I too have noticed the increasing number of pros from Georgia. Ashley Harkleroad was also born in Georgia ... although I think she lives in Florida now.

New York's tennis development seems strong, but you would expect as much with the National Tennis Center being here. Whenever I play at the NTC, there are always young kids around who are training, teens who you can tell are very serious about their games, and five-year-olds who would clearly kick my ass. (Not that this is, in an of itself, much of an accomplishment.)

No really relevant place to put this comment, but I just have to share -

Earlier this week, I submitted my US Open preview article to Outsports and now that the draw is out I have sent in my predictions for the semis and finals. I think it's so hard to predict in general and feel alot of pressure about trying to anticipate who is on form, where the upsets will be, etc. Well, my men's predictions are feasible, but you guys are gonna piss yourself when you see my women's predictions. I think my crystal ball might need some windex! But I calls 'em like I sees 'em.

You're picking Gabriela Sabatini to win after receiving a late wild card?

Ha, ha. Good one JC. And if it were remotely a possibility, one he might actually do.

(More mental vibes to G4G: don't pick Kim, pick anyone but Kim, Kim never wins majors so don't buy into it by picking her to win)

Now, back to the thread.

Gaby would totally win if she came back. The next revolution in tennis will be started by a 35-year-old net rusher with a 79 mph first serve! It could totally happen. Actually, it might be more likely to happen than my call for the women's tourney ...

There is a very nice US Open picture gallery on SI's web site ... well, the photos are nice. I don't know who wrote the captions for each picture. They're riddled with mistakes, such as:

*Saying Monica won the 1992 final in straight sets over Aranxta Sanchez and then immediately listing a three-set score.

*Saying Venus lost her first US Open final 6-0, 6-4 to MONICA SELES. Actually, she lost it to Martina Hingis.

*Saying Boris Becker won the 1990 US Open title. Actually, he won the 1989 title.

The good news is that they got Gaby's caption right! :cool:

Oops.

You might want the link, huh? US Open Picture Gallery