Klingemann lone American qualifier, ready for Monday.



Chris Klingemann was the lone American singles qualifier, beating Luis Flores in a quality final round match. This was a good argument for the theory that you don't need the absolute top players for an entertaining match. The first set was as entertaining as it gets with neither player really showing a killer weapon. Klingemann and Flores traded some long rallies, and it was some Klingemann finesse up against Flores baseline power. Very entertaining with Klingemann doing some heavy court coverage and coming out on top, seeming to wear out Flores edge to keep powering it back. Klingemann was a teammate of Jeremy Wurtzman at Ohio State in 2004, and finished up a strong career there last year (recall Wurtzman, a Rochester native that found his first Challenger win here 2-3 years ago). This is the 2nd Challenger Klingemann has qualified for, the first just a few weeks ago. This match was quite different from the D'Agord-Nunez that followed, D'Agord-Nunez more of a power, quick points match. Almost entirely comfortable service games in their first set. Noteable how the depth of the qualifier has changed over the years.

Also, locals Mendler-Shumway did finally get the best of the youngsters Assal-Peric (believed to be 16 & 15 yrs of age) in the doubles. Interesting to see the dynamics of possibly the oldest team and locals, playing against the youngest pair.

Lots of great action in qualifying though. While qualifying never gets the coverage or the attention of most, it is uniquely entertaining with 3-4 courts of action simultaneously, along with full practice sessions going. Lots of action for the fanatic, and guaranteed to find some entertaining matches.

Lots of familiar faces in the main draw. Capdeville to lead off the feature matches Monday. Capdeville has been around since 2002 as a pro, but just last year broke the top 100 for his best ranking. 2 weeks ago he broke into the QF of Indianapolis beating Ginepri and challenging Tursunov. He's been a steady top 150 player, not hampered by playing Challengers in between the other ATP events ... you may recall him in the 2nd round of the US Open last year against Federer or the Australian (this year and last) or the French. He's proven he is good for a couple rounds at the Slams.