First on is Kozlov vs. the Polish veteran who beat Ljubicic at Wimbledon a few years ago.
Harrison has to play Isner again! (Schedule below)
Dr. Ivo is in the draw, nice to see him back healthy after the scare which sent him to the hospital.
James Blake is in the draw will play Adrian Mannarino. Also playing is Dennis Kudla, who Andy Murray said he dreamt last night he was playing the final today against Radek Stepanek and Denis Kudla. That was a hilarious revelation by Andy.
In another draw quirk, Hewitt has to play his Aussie pal Ebden.
I should hit Newport in time to see young Kozlov, age 15, make his ATP World Tour debut.
Ah, Newport, I can’t wait to get there.
***
NEWPORT, R.I., July 7, 2013 – The U.S. summer swing for pro tennis kicks off tomorrow in Newport, Rhode Island at the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships where eight of the top-10 Americans will be in competition. The first round of the Main Draw will see two-time defending champion John Isner facing fellow American Ryan Harrison, in what will be their fourth match this season, sixth of their careers. Isner leads the head-to-head, 4-1.
The Isner vs.Harrison match will be second on Center Court on tomorrow’s opening day, with matches beginning at 11 a.m.
New Englander James Blake, a local fan favorite who returns to Newport for the first time since 2005, will play Adrian Mannarino of France in the second match on Center Court tomorrow. Blake comes to Newport fresh off a run into the doubles quarterfinals at Wimbledon, while Mannarino had success on the grass courts as well, advancing to the Round of 16.
Leading off the action in the first match on Center Court wild card Stefan Kozlov will play Michal Przysiezny of Poland. At 15 years old, Kozlov is the youngest player ever in the Main Draw of the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships. Last week he was a quarterfinalist at the Wimbledon boys tournament.
In doubles action tomorrow, Massachusetts native and Brown University graduate James Cerretani will partner with Kenny De Schepper to take on Roland Garros doubles finalist Nicolas Mahut, who is playing with Edouard Roger-Vasselin.
When the first round continues on Tuesday, No. 1 seed Sam Querrey will take on fellow American Tim Smyczek. The first round will also see former world No. 1 and Newport’s 2012 Runner Up Lleyton Hewitt taking on fellow Australian Matt Ebden.
Main Draw competition at the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships gets underway tomorrow at 11 a.m. at the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, R.I.
Following is the Singles and Doubles Draw, and Order of Play for the first round and the final Qualifying Round.
For additional information, tickets, and live scoring, visit www.HallofFameTennisChampionships.com
Main Draw – Singles – First Round
ORDER OF PLAY – MONDAY, JULY 08, 2013
CENTER COURT start 11:00 am
[WC] S Kozlov (USA) vs M Przysiezny (POL)
R Harrison (USA) vs [2] J Isner (USA)
A Mannarino (FRA) vs J Blake (USA)
J Levine (CAN) vs Y Sugita (JPN)
COURT 1 start 11:00 am
Qualifying – A Pavic (CRO) vs J Smith (AUS)
Qualifying – A Kuznetsov (USA) vs F Dustov (UZB)
Not Before 2:00 PM
T Smyczek (USA) / R Williams (USA) vs M Matosevic (AUS) / F Moser (GER)
Not Before 4:00 PM
J Cerretani (USA) / K De Schepper (FRA) vs [2] N Mahut (FRA) / E Roger-Vasselin (FRA)
COURT 2 start 11:00 am
Qualifying – E Chvojka (CAN) vs A Bossel (SUI)
Qualifying – I Bozoljac (SRB) vs J Hernych (CZE)
Scoop Malinowski · July 8, 2013 at 12:00 am
My boy Ilija Bozoljac is still in the qualifying draw. Donald Young lost in qualies. C Harrison also lost 64 in third to Alex Kuznetsov.
Steve · July 8, 2013 at 8:01 am
Scoop is Klahn there?
Andrew Miller · July 8, 2013 at 3:29 pm
The Klahn Biofile: the only way Klahn will know we are rooting for him!
Scoop Malinowski · July 8, 2013 at 9:10 pm
No Klahn Steve, no Steve Johnson either, last I saw Klahn was winning by default over Bogie in the semi of Winnetka Chall, Bogie quit in the third set tiebreak after a bad call at 2-1.
Andrew Miller · July 8, 2013 at 10:11 pm
Jack Sock is now the #4 U.S. player at #84 in world.
Kudla now #7 U.S., behind Blake, Ram, at 90 in world.
Steve Johnson now #9 U.S. player at 97 in world.
Harrison took a nose dive down to #110 ATP, flirting with the possibility of a ranking lower than Rhyne Williams (#129) if he keeps up the early exits against top seeds.
And our boy Klahn – at 162, on the verge of the top 150, up from #695 one year ago. Not sure why we can’t call that astonishing.
Is Steve Johnson on track for rookie of the year?
Andrew Miller · July 8, 2013 at 10:12 pm
(not to disparage Kuznetsov, Ram, Smyczek – they are all doing better this year! And Russell is the perennial top 100 U.S. player few talk about).
Scoop Malinowski · July 8, 2013 at 10:16 pm
Prakash Armitraj told us Kudla’s twitter exploded after Murray said he had a dreams the night before the final that he was playing Stepanek and Kudla. Ahaha. Kudla was there watching young Kozlov today. Sock was watching Isner-Harrison with Craig Boynton, Querrey and Sam’s new fiancee who is a stunner. By the way, Kozlov’s friend who was playing Dimitrov is named Ymer, Ymer lost 46 in the third to Grigor.
Scoop Malinowski · July 8, 2013 at 10:17 pm
Andrew I was told Fish is not here because he’s playing WTT.
Scoop Malinowski · July 8, 2013 at 10:22 pm
Sock plays Matosevic first round, they played in San Jose this year, Marinko won 76 61. Saw Lleyton Hewitt walk in by himself in shades and a cap, yellow shirt, hardly anyone noticed him. Blake is here with brother Thomas as coach. Harrison lost another toughie to Isner 76 62. Another tough draw for Ryan, this is the third time he’s lost to Isner this year 76 64 in Houston, 57 67 63 61 86 in RGarros, Harry beat Isner in Sydney 64 64. They have played four times this year.
Andrew Miller · July 9, 2013 at 1:00 am
Harrison is having a dog of a year going into the hard courts. But with all the players finding their games as the hardcourt season begins, I think this means the U.S. players are going to see an even better boost in the rankings. The nadir of U.S. mens tennis at Wimbledon could be seeing a nice little comeback at US Open time.
Andrew Miller · July 9, 2013 at 1:12 am
DYoung beat Jarmere Jenkins badly in Winnetka before losing to Sock, 2 and 2. Still got faith in JJ.
Andrew Miller · July 9, 2013 at 1:17 am
Had no idea but anyone can get stats for even challenger matches (like the Sock-Klahn match). Also had no idea that you can BET on any challenger match! Though tennis does not have a steroid problem, I bet it has a betting one.
Harold · July 10, 2013 at 5:45 pm
Stuttgart tom. Morning 10 AM Eastern Time Haas vs Gulbis