Hey All,

Just thought I’d give a little update on what I’ve been doing since The Open ended. I flew back to my place in Santa Monica and got in a few solid days of relaxation. I got some things done around the house, including switching from cable to DirecTV. I got a slingbox as well so I am looking forward to being able to watch football and following my fantasy team on Sundays overseas with Dan. Melanie Oudine was also in town the past couple of days. She’s so big right now, she went on the Ellen Show and then I got to go with her to The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brian.

Charity event at North Ranch Country Club

I’ve also been working out in Carson with my trainer Rodney Marshall and practicing everyday. One day I played a charity event at North Ranch Country Club. It’s been my home court since I was a kid, so it is always fun to go back there and help out. I am ready to head to Asia and hopefully make up some points in Bangkok, Beijing and Shanghai. The good news about not doing so well at this time last year is that if I do well it can help me jump up the rankings, and that’s exactly what I plan to do! Thanks, and until next time…

Sam

Hey guys, it’s Sunday here in New York and there has been some fantastic tennis played in the first week of the US Open. I won my second round match with Kevin Kim, in what turned out to be an absolute battle. We were tied at one set each before I managed to pull away for the three set victory. Doubles in the second round turned out to be one of the more exciting doubles matches I’ve been able to take part in. John Isner and I won the first set before heading to a second set tiebreaker in which there were numerous mini breaks and set/match points. In the end, Ivan Ljubicic and Michael Llodra took home both the second set breaker and the match.

The loss in doubles meant that the only event I had left to focus on was singles, where I played Robin Soderling, the 12 seed. Robin came out crushing the ball while I struggled to get my feet underneath myself, and I lost the first set 6-2. Robin then broke me early in the next set, but I broke back to get in back on serve. Near the end of the set I faltered once more and found myself in an 0-2 hole. The third set was back and forth and it went to a tiebreaker. With my tournament life on the line I dug deep and took the third set 8-6 in the breaker. The crowd then came alive with a little help from the Samurai and I was ready to start my comeback. Unfortunately, Robin had other ideas and was just too strong and my US Open and great summer concluded 1-6 in the fourth set.

I had so much fun at the Open, on and off the court. I was able to interact a lot with the fans thanks to American Express and Olympus, and the fans are the reason I’m able to play the game I love, so I always love to interact with them. It was an unreal summer and I want to thank all my friends, fans, and sponsors for supporting me along the way. I now get a couple of weeks off before heading overseas to Bangkok, Beijing and Shanghai this fall. Wish me luck!

Sam

Getting ready to return as Dan takes in the match

Well, I’ve played a round in both doubles and singles and my name is still on the big board in each. The longer I can say that the better. Fellow American Michael Yani put up a great fight, making me set out each one of my set victories in our match. A lot of Americans are having success here at The Open which is nice to see, and my next opponent is Kevin Kim; the American pulled out the upset over the dangerous Dudi Sela in his first round bout. In doubles, John Isner and I won our match in straight sets and are moving on. It’s exciting to get to play doubles with the same person in an extended number of tournaments, we are really getting a feel for how the other one wants to play out there and starting to gel. Dan has been taking some great pictures with his Olympus Stylus Tough 8000 and is posting them to his snapfish account. He is posting the links to each day’s photos on his twitter account: http://twitter.com/dantheintern . Wish me luck, I’m not ready to leave New York.

Sam