Wildcards Embarassing

[etb76]

So, the USTA gave away 8 wildcards into the qualifying draw for the Open. 7 of them were to young Americans, and they are all good players. I was hoping for them to do pretty well. But the only WC to win his first round match in the qualies was the Aussie, Chris Guccione (with Brendan Evan still on the court as I write). The other 6 Americans got bounced first round. It's a shame...but I'm not sure that the main draw WCs can do much better especially with crappy draws like Baker vs Moya and Scoville vs Roddick. At least Rajeev Ram has the lucky draw of playing Jan-Michael Gambill and Delic and Reynolds each drew a qualifier.

Do you think that any of these wildcards can win a main draw match? I'm picking Delic and Ram - the two Illinois boys to be the only ones.

[seb]

don't worry for young US pros: it is always the same WCs loose early in Grand Slam qualifying in French, Australian and Wimbledon... This is something normal.

By the way, Evans won...

[Elina]

Just to note that at Roland Garros this year Jérôme Haehnel needed a wild card to the qualifying and then ended up winning three qualifying matches and beat Agassi in the first round. So sometimes the qualifying wild cards can be very fortunate. Jérôme's been a totally new (better) player after that success.

[fschallenger]

i agree they are embarrassing if your british , i always want our brits to do well i watch with interest ido cheer them on but you always get dissapointed, wimbledon plus other grass events you allways get to to see a brit but thats it after that you after follow them through good sites like this to catch up on them

[fschallenger]

i agree they are embarrassing if your british , i always want our brits to do well i watch with interest ido cheer them on but you always get dissapointed, wimbledon plus other grass events you allways get to to see a brit but thats it after that you after follow them through good sites like this to catch up on them

[Fee]

It's a shame...but I'm not sure that the main draw WCs can do much better especially with crappy draws like Baker vs Moya and Scoville vs Roddick. At least Rajeev Ram has the lucky draw of playing Jan-Michael Gambill...

You were saying?

[Lord Lannister]

Understandably being a Gambill fan that comment probably upset you but it is true drawing Moya or Roddick in the 1st round is much much worse than drawing JMG, for whom I think the sun is slowly starting to set.

[Fee]

No, the comment didn't upset me at all. People have their opinions of tennis players, usually based on nothing factual, just instinct or emotion. I don't have a problem with that. Rajeev Ram is a very talented player, but I just had a feeling that a healthy JMG was not going to lose to a guy ranked in the 300's at the USO. His next round will be much tougher, to say the least.

[CrazyDiamond]

Perhaps the young Wild Carders should play the Challenger Circuit for a couple of years,like everyone else does.

If they're good enough they'll win a couple of Challengers and get into the Top 100.

Throwing them into the Main Draw of the US Open does them no good at all.

Better still...tell them to take up Golf,at least that way they might make a living.