Hey guys, it’s Sunday her
e 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